The first storm of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season is set to hit Florida on Thursday. Tropical Storm Andrea, which formed off the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, had already hit Cuba with strong downpours on the same day. It is expected to make landfall, hitting Fla. with torrential rainfall, reports CNN.
The National Hurricane Center reported that as of 2 a.m. ET today, Tropical Storm Andrea was 240 miles west-southwest of Tampa, moving at 10 mph towards north. The storm has also grown faster since, gaining 4 mph just hours before the report was published. Bay News also noted that the maximum sustained winds of the storm had already increased to 45 mph.
After hitting Florida, Andrea will be moving up the East Coast passing through Georgia over the weekend. Tropical Storm Warnings have already been issued for various areas that will most likely be affected by strong rainfall.
According to reports, Andrea will be bringing in much rainfall that could cause floods in certain areas. While it isn't expected to strengthen into a hurricane, its water ratio will be a problem.
"The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coats to be flooded by rising waters," the National Hurricane Center noted, as published by CNN on the report.
Andrea is expected to produce three to six inches of accumulated rainfall in the Florida Peninsula, east Florida Panhandle and southeast Georgia. North and South Carolina could have as much as two to four inches of rainfall.
According to the hurricane center, water could reach as high as 4 feet in certain areas if the strongest rainfall coincides with the time of high tide. If this event happens, Tampa Bay all the way north to Apalachicola could have two to four feet of rain, while Florida's West Coast to Tampa Bay could experience one to two feet of rain.