Tropical Storm Nate Forms; Eyes Gulf Coast As Hurricane

TAMPA, FL — The National Hurricane Center was keeping close tabs on newly formed Tropical Storm Nate Thursday morning. The system, the 14th named storm of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, is expected to gain strength as it moves northwest into the Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters expect Nate to reach hurricane strength before making landfall somewhere between southern Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle on Sunday.

By 8 a.m. Thursday, Nate was located about 10 miles south of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. The system was packing maximum sustained winds of 40 mph while moving in a northwesterly direction at 8 mph. (For more weather and local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Tampa Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Tropical storm warnings are in place for portions of Nicaragua and Honduras. Hurricane watches are also in place from Punta Herrero to Rio Lagartos, Mexico. Warnings mean that tropical storm or hurricane conditions are expected in the watch area. Tropical storm-force winds extended out 60 miles from Nate’s center Thursday morning.

Hurricane center forecasters say Nate is a rainmaker. Nicaragua may witness rainfall amounts of 15 to 20 inches with isolated pockets up to 30 inches before the storm clears the country on its path toward the Gulf of Mexico.

On its current projected path, Nate is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday with an upgrade to hurricane status expected Sunday. Its current projected path poses a threat for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

The precise impacts Nate could have on Florida and other parts of the Gulf Coast remain to be seen, but the system serves as a reminder that hurricane season is far from over. Nate, in fact, formed at the end of hurricane season’s peak. Forecasters call the period between mid-August and mid-October the “season within the season.” This eight-week period “is often the most active and dangerous time for tropical cyclone activity,” according to the NOAA.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 each year. Average seasons produce about 12 named storms, of which six become hurricanes. Three of the hurricanes are generally deemed major.

Residents readying for the ongoing season can get tips and advice on the federal government’s Ready.gov website.

Graphics courtesy of the National Hurricane Center