Tropical Storm Nicole gains strength and threatens the Bahamas, Florida and Georgia
Tropical Storm Nicole gains strength in the Atlantic. It's expected to become a hurricane in a few hours in Florida.
- Tropical Storm Nicole gains strength in the Atlantic.
- It’s expected to become a hurricane in a few hours.
- The system is dangerously close to the Bahamas and the United States.
HURRICANE WARNING! Tropical Storm Nicole gains strength in the Atlantic, while continuing to move towards the Bahamas archipelago and to the US, where it is expected to hit Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Early on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Tropical Storm Nicole continues to «approach Great Abaco Island in the northwestern Bahamas» and then it will continue on its way to US coasts, which they expect it to impact today.
Tropical Storm Nicole gains strength and threatens the Bahamas and Florida
According to the latest NHC report, Nicole is located 90 miles (140 kilometers) east of Great Abaco Island and 270 miles (435 kilometers) east of West Palm Beach, Florida. There are «new storm warnings» issued for the west coast of Florida and portions of the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina.
Nicole is already registering maximum sustained winds of 10 Mph (110 kilometers per hour) and is moving west at a speed of 13 Mph (20 kilometers per hour), so experts predict that it may be reaching US shores with devastating force TONIGHT.
Where is Nicole headed?
Nicole will bring bad weather to end the week. “On the forecast track, the center of Nicole will approach the northwestern Bahamas this morning, move near or over those islands by noon, and approach the east coast of Florida within the hurricane warning area tonight,“ stated the NHC.
«The center of Nicole is then expected to move through central and northern Florida into southern Georgia Thursday and Thursday night, and then through the Carolinas on Friday and Friday night,» added the meteorologists from the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane alert
In addition, authorities have warned that Nicole is gaining strength and they expect it to become a hurricane today. «Some strengthening is expected today, and Nicole is forecast to become a hurricane near the northwestern Bahamas and remain a hurricane when it reaches the east coast of Florida tonight,» they said.
Nicole is expected to weaken as it moves across Florida and the southeastern United States Thursday through Friday, and is likely to become a post-tropical cyclone by Friday night over the mid-Atlantic states, said the NHC in its most recent report.
Rains, floods and tornadoes
For now, the authorities have issued a Hurricane Alert for the Abaco, Berry, Bimini and Grand Bahama Islands in the northwestern Bahamas, and in Florida for the area from Boca Raton to Flagler and Volusia County. There is also an existing Tropical Storm Warning for Andros Island, New Providence and Eleuthera in the Bahamas, and for the area from Hallandale Beach to Boca Raton, and from Flagler/Volusia County to Altamaha Sound, in the state of Georgia, EFE detailed.
Forecasters have also issued a storm surge warning from North Palm Beach, Florida, to Altamaha Sound, Georgia, warning that heavy rains are likely to cause flash and urban flooding Wednesday and Thursday across the Florida panhandle. In addition, isolated tornadoes are possible in Florida, eastern Georgia and eastern South Carolina between Wednesday night and Friday, said NOAA.