The National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday that Tropical Storm Nicole will continue to strengthen and will likely strike the east coast of Florida as a hurricane later this week.
The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for the east coast of Florida, from Boca Raton to the Flagler/Volusia County Line.
The now tropical storm is projected to come ashore late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm will be relatively large and that impacts will be felt far away from the point of landfall.
On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for 34 Florida counties. The expectation is that Nicole won’t be nearly as strong as Hurricane Ian, which struck the state in late September.
“While this storm does not, at this time, appear that it will become much stronger, I urge all Floridians to be prepared and to listen to announcements from local emergency management officials,” said DeSantis. “We will continue to monitor the trajectory and strength of this storm as it moves towards Florida.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed that 131 people died from Hurricane Ian, nearly half in Lee County along Florida’s Gulf Coast.