Double-digit rain totals are possible, as well as wind, surge, and a few tornadoes.
Tropical Storm Eta is bearing down on Florida, pelting the southern parts of the Sunshine State with heavy rains, locally strong winds and a “dangerous” storm surge of several feet as the late-season system spins off the north coast of Cuba. The storm is forecast to linger near or just west of the Florida Peninsula for as many as five days, arriving in the Florida Keys as a Category 1 hurricane Monday before meandering for days in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. This means that heavy rains and strong winds will be prolonged in many parts of the state, and coastal flooding will last for many high-tide cycles. The storm’s swipe at Florida is part of the second incarnation of Eta, which killed dozens in Central America last week after striking Nicaragua on Tuesday as a devastating Category 4 storm. Here are the watches and warnings in effect for Florida: • A hurricane warning along with a storm surge warning is in effect for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay. • A hurricane watch is in effect for the Florida coast from Golden Beach to Bonita Beach, including Biscayne Bay, in case the storm tracks farther north than expected. • Tropical storm warnings are up for both coasts of southern and central Florida from the Brevard-Volusia County line to Englewood, or roughly between Daytona Beach and just north of Fort Myers. That includes places such as Fort Lauderdale, Miami, West Palm Beach, Naples and Lake Okeechobee. “Hurricane conditions are expected in portions of the Florida Keys by early Monday,” the National Hurricane Center stated in an online forecast discussion. Flood watches are in effect ahead of Eta, too, with the National Weather Service singling out “flash and urban flooding” as a significant threat. The Weather Service is projecting as much as a foot and a half of rain for parts of the central and southern Florida peninsula. A storm surge watch is also in effect for a vast stretch of the state’s coastline, from Golden Beach to Bonita Beach, including Biscayne Bay, and the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas. “Storm surge” refers to the storm-driven rise in water above normally dry land at the coast.
