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The Sunshine State certainly is not living up to its name early this week. A developing tropical storm will bring plenty of rain and bouts of gusty winds to parts of the state as the remainder of the week unfolds.
The Atlantic’s ninth tropical depression formed Sunday in the Florida Straits and now it’s in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, bringing torrential rain to western Cuba.
A Hurricane Watch has been added to the northern Florida Gulf Coast, from just north of Tampa to Indian Pass, which is about 40 miles southeast of Panama City. Then a Tropical Storm Warning extends from Indian pass to the Walton/Bay County line, which is just west of Panama City. Tropical-storm-force winds will be expected within the areas under this warning.
As of 5 a.m. EDT, T.D. Nine was located near 24.5 N, 88.1 W, or 425 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla., and 405 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla. It has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, and is moving west at 2 mph. The minimum central pressure within the depression is 1004 mb, or 29.65 inches of mercury.
The depression remains disorganized, but it will still likely strengthen into a tropical storm as it makes its turn to the northeast and head into the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico. At that point, it will likely be given the name “Hermine”.
Showers and storms will become more frequent across central and northern Florida through Friday. The likely tropical storm will then make landfall along the Florida Big Bend late Thursday night into Friday morning before peeling across northern Florida and emerging into the Atlantic. The cold front will push it away from the Southeast Atlantic Coast through Sunday.
As the storm nears central and northern Florida, downpours will increase in intensity and duration Thurdsay. By Friday evening, 5 to 10 inches will soak the Florida Peninsula. Flash flooding is expected along Florida’s west coast, especially from Tampa north, for the second half of the week. Isolated tornadoes are possible tonight through Thursday morning, mostly across central Florida.
The storm will likely maintain its strength across Florida due to its short duration in the northern part of the state. After emerging into the Atlantic, the strongest winds will stay offshore the Southeast Atlantic Coast. However, downpours on the storm’s western flank will bring 1 to 2 inches of rain from southeastern Georgia to the South Carolina Coast Thursday afternoon into early Saturday.
Stay with WeatherBug for the latest on this developing tropical system during the new work week and any tropical and heavy rain advisories that may be posted ahead of the storm.