Tropical Storm Nicole is expected to strengthen as it approaches Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday, and to be a Category 1 hurricane when it makes landfall between Melbourne and Cocoa Beach on Wednesday night.
Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, has declared a state of emergency in 34 of the state’s 67 counties.
Meanwhile, ahead of Nicole’s potential impact on the state this week, Florida Power & Light has urged customers to prepare for power outages and activated its emergency response plan.
“Because [Hurricane] Ian saturated soil and weakened trees in many parts of the state, Nicole may cause trees to topple over and other vegetation and debris to blow into overhead power lines and equipment, potentially causing outages,” Florida Power & Light chairman and CEO Eric Silagy said in a statement Monday.
Nicole formed on Monday in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, becoming the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which concludes this month.
Nicole’s center is expected to approach the northwest Bahamas on Tuesday, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, then approach Florida’s east coast and make landfall late Wednesday night. According to the latest National Weather Service forecast, it will move across central and northern Florida and into southern Georgia on Thursday.
Hurricane conditions are expected in the northwestern Bahamas on Wednesday, with tropical storm conditions beginning across the entire area by Tuesday night. According to the National Weather Service, a storm surge could raise water levels along the coast by up to 6 feet above normal tide levels in areas with onshore winds.
Within the hurricane watch area, hurricane conditions are possible along Florida’s east coast by Wednesday night, with tropical storm conditions expected to begin Tuesday night or early Wednesday. By Wednesday night, tropical storm conditions are also possible along Florida’s west coast, which is included in the watch area.
Nicole is expected to produce 3 to 5 inches of rain across the northwestern Bahamas into the eastern, central, and northern parts of the Florida Peninsula through Friday, with a maximum of 7 inches for localized rain. 1 to 4 inches of rain could fall in southeastern Georgia and parts of South Carolina. The storm’s “heavy rainfall” will move northward along the Eastern Seaboard late Thursday and into Friday.