Florida’s west coast feels Tropical Storm Eta’s winds as it curves east to cross over state
Eta weakened back to a tropical storm Wednesday after a few hours as a hurricane, and the National Hurricane Center said it will continue to weaken as it edges closer to the Tampa Bay area.
South Florida’s main impact from the storm is more of the same — rain. The National Weather Service said Wednesday morning that the southeast coast could expect an inch to an inch and a half in the next few days.
As Eta approaches Florida for a second landfall in a week, a new tropical storm warning has been issued from the Flagler/Volusia county line in Florida northward to St. Andrews Sound, Georgia.
A storm surge warning is still in effect for Bonita Beach to Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay. A storm surge watch is in effect for Steinhatchee River to Suwannee River in Florida.
The hurricane watch for the west coast and the tropical storm warning for the Dry Tortugas, at the end of the Florida Keys, and south of Boca Grande, in southwest Florida, have also been canceled.
As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, Eta was moving north in the Gulf of Mexico at 12 mph and was about 55 miles northwest of St. Petersburg and 60 miles west-northwest of Tampa. Its maximum winds were 65 mph, but the wind field extended 115 miles from the center, mainly to the northeast.
After landfall north of the Tampa Bay area on Thursday morning, the hurricane center said Eta is expected to re-emerge in the Atlantic Ocean near Jacksonville on Thursday night.
Afterward, it could weaken to a depression while heading north along the East Coast.
How will Eta affect Florida?
Tropical-storm-force winds are forecast to begin late Wednesday along portions of Florida’s Gulf Coast from Bonita Beach to Suwannee River to Aucilla River, but gusts around 52 mph could be felt in St. Petersburg at 10 p.m.
Forecasters said that “the combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” with the highest storm surge between 3 to 5 feet expected from the Anclote River to Boca Grande, including Tampa Bay.
A storm-surge warning was issued Wednesday morning from Suwanee River to Bonita Beach. A storm surge watch is also in effect from the Steinhatchee River to the Suwannee River.
Eta is forecast to produce 2 to 4 inches of rain in West and Central Florida and an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain in North and South Florida.
The hurricane center is also tracking Subtropical Storm Theta, an eastern Atlantic storm that poses no threat to land, and a tropical wave in the eastern Caribbean. Forecasters gave the wave a 50% chance of strengthening into a tropical depression in the next two days and a 90% chance of forming in the next five. If it eventually turns into a tropical storm, it would be named Iota.
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 7:21 AM.
