Florida Braces for Another Powerful Storm

Nicole may hit as a hurricane later in the week
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 8, 2022 8:16 AM CST
Florida Braces for Another Powerful Storm
This was the scene on Oct. 1 in Fort Myers, Fla., after Hurricane Ian passed by the area. Another powerful storm, Nicole, is brewing.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Subtropical Storm Nicole began strengthening and transitioning into a tropical storm early Tuesday as it churned toward Florida's Atlantic coastline, forecasters said. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm's exact path remains uncertain, but it was expected to make landfall along Florida's coast as a Category 1 hurricane late Wednesday or early Thursday, per the AP. Many areas are still reeling from damage caused by Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida’s southwestern Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm in late September, before dumping heavy amounts of rain across much of the central part of the state.

Tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches were issued for much of Florida's Atlantic coastline north of Miami, to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. The warning area stretches inland, covering Florida's Lake Okeechobee, with tropical storm watches in effect on the state's Gulf Coast—from Bonita Beach in southwest Florida to the Ochlockonee River in the Panhandle. Elsewhere, hurricane warnings were in effect for the Abacos, Berry Islands, Bimini, and Grand Bahama Island. Other areas of the Bahamas, including Andros Island, New Province, and Eleuthera remained under a tropical storm warning.

The difference between a subtropical and tropical storm is largely academic. A subtropical storm is a non-frontal low-pressure system that has characteristics of both tropical and extratropical cyclones and tend to have a larger wind field, extending much farther from their centers. At 7am Tuesday, the storm was about 385 miles east northeast of the northwestern Bahamas and moving at 8mph, with maximum sustained winds of 50mph.

(More hurricanes stories.)

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