UPDATE 2:10 pm
Gov. DeSantis has now declared a state of emergency for 34 counties in the path of Sub-Tropical Storm Nicole. In a statement, the governor's office says while the storm does not, at this time, appear that it will become much stronger, he urges all Floridians to be prepared and listen to announcements from local emergency management officials.
Counties under a state of emergency include:
- Brevard
- Broward
- Charlotte
- Citrus
- Clay
- Collier
- DeSoto
- Duval
- Flagler
- Glades
- Hardee
- Hendry
- Highlands
- Hillsborough
- Indian River
- Lake
- Lee
- Manatee
- Martin
- Miami-Dade
- Nassau
- Okeechobee
- Orange
- Osceola
- Palm Beach
- Pasco
- Polk
- Putnam
- Sarasota
- Seminole
- St. Johns
- St. Lucie
- Sumter
- Volusia
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It won't be anything like Ian, but sub-tropical storm Nicole could become a strong tropical storm or a Category 1 hurricane before it makes landfall along Florida's east coast on Wednesday.
The interim director of the National Hurricane Center, Jamie Rhome, says the big threat is coastal flooding, as tides are high right now. "When you have Nicole with this big large wind field and all this on-shore flow," Rhome said, "the potential for coastal flooding exists for a large portion of the eastern coast of the Florida peninsula."
Hurricane and tropical storm watches are now in effect for the east coast up to Georgia.
As for the impact to the Tampa Bay area, Max Defender 8 meteorologist Rebecca Barry said we could be in for a couple of days of gusty wind and heavy rain. "Conditions will deteriorate throughout the day on Wednesday," Barry told Newsradio WFLA's Ryan Gorman. "We'll get those rain bands coming more closely with less breaks, and then Wednesday night into Thursday will probably be our rainiest and windiest times."
At the moment, STS Nicole is located about 520 miles east of the northwestern Bahamas, and was moving northwest at 14 mph, with top winds of 45 mph.
photo: Getty Images