Tropical Depression 9 expected to become tropical storm later Wednesday

A hurricane watch has been issued for the Florida Gulf Coast from the Anclote River Indian Pass south to Bayonet Point.

A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for the Anclote River to the Walton/Bay County line, this includes Pasco, Citrus and Hernando Counties.

No warning or watches have been sent out, but forecasters say officials in Central Florida, along with North Florida and southeastern Georgia, should be monitoring the storm.

WINDS: Maximum sustained winds are near 35 miles per hour (55 km/h) with higher gusts. It was generating a lot of storms, but overall still appeared disorganized and the center was hard to locate.

According to Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth, the system could bring a storm surge of up to 3 feet to the areas between Apalachicola and Tampa in northwestern Florida.

“We were just knee-deep, and there were a few times where we had to run out because it kept sucking us in”, she said, adding she’d watch movies with her husband until the storm blows through.

Madeline was 140 miles southeast of the Big Island city of Hilo early Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, slower than Tuesday’s 120 mph winds. It’s looking more likely that name will be Hermine. It has the potential to pack Category 1 hurricane force winds as it moves inland, state DEM director Bryan Koon said. It was centered about 35 miles northeast of Valdosta, Georgia, and was moving north-northeast near 14 mph.

Dare County Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson write in an email that the tropical depression resulted in “no impacts” on coastal areas such as Cape Hatteras. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) visited Tampa on Tuesday to oversee storm preparations, warning of tornadoes, storm surges, and especially flooding in a state already working to combat the spread of Zika virus. As a result, another round of scattered rain and storms are expected Wednesday, some of which will be quite heavy. Between 5 and 10 inches of rain were expected with higher amounts in some areas.

The coast from Wilmington toward the SC border could see several inches of rain Friday and Friday night, forecasters in the weather service’s Morehead City office said.

And the East Coast could get a lot of rain as well.

Although its path is far from certain, tropical moisture from the storm could make it into southeastern sections of Middle Georgia and the state’s coastal areas. Also, partly sunny skies and light easterly winds from Saturday through Monday.

Residents in Carteret County in the south were also told to monitor flooding and to regularly check for weather updates.

There were two other systems being watched in the Atlantic as well on Wednesday morning. But the U.S. National Hurricane Center says strengthening is forecast and the depression is expected to become a tropical storm later in the day.

That’s a possibility of five different storms to keep track of – Hermine, Gaston, Madeline, Lester and maybe Ian.