Tropical Storm Idalia intensified early Monday and was expected to become a major hurricane before it reaches Florida's Gulf coast, the National Hurricane Center said Monday, warning of an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds in Florida as soon as late Tuesday.
At 7 a.m. Monday, the storm was about 90 miles south off the western tip of Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The storm was stationary at the time, the hurricane center said.
Forecasters said they expected Idalia to become a hurricane later today in the Gulf of Mexico and then curve northeast toward the west coast of Florida.
South Florida won’t have to tango with the high-end impacts expected to come with the development of Idalia this week.
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Our local forecast calls for scattered storms starting Monday and heavy rain could lead to some localized flooding.
Rain for South Florida will come in waves starting Tuesday and lasting through Wednesday.
We will be on the tail end of this tropical system so the gusty wind and stream of moisture will still be possible into Thursday.
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Although, things improve by the end of the week and into the holiday weekend.
