A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for portions of southeastern Florida and the upper Florida Keys from Craig Key to Golden Beach.
At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical DepressionEighteen was located by reconnaissance aircraft and radars fromCuba and Grand Cayman near latitude 20.8 North, longitude 82.9West. The depression is moving toward the north-northeast near 22mph (35 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue today. Amotion toward the northeast with an increase in forward speed isexpected to begin tonight and continue through Sunday. On theforecast track, the center will move across west-central Cuba thisafternoon, across the Straits of Florida tonight, and across thenorthwestern Bahamas Sunday morning.Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts.Strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, andthe depression is expected to become a tropical storm by tonight.