Pair of Tropical Storms Approach Florida

MIAMI – Back-to-back tropical storms moved closer to Florida early Wednesday, with Bonnie creeping across the Gulf of Mexico toward the Panhandle and a stronger Charley behind it prompting a hurricane watch for the lower Florida Keys.

Most of northwest Florida, from the Alabama line to the Suwanee River, was under a tropical storm watch and could expect Bonnie’s wind and rain on Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Bonnie is not expected to become a hurricane, meteorologists said.

Charley was forecast to hit or pass close to the lower Keys later Thursday and then hit the southwestern Florida mainland as a Category 1 hurricane coast early Friday, packing sustained wind of about 85 mph, forecaster Daniel Brown said. A hurricane watch, meaning hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours, was posted from the Dry Tortugas to Craig Key, near Long Key.

Charley was forecast to pass over central Florida, still packing hurricane-force wind, and then exit near Daytona Beach on the Atlantic Coast.

Three to 6 inches of rain is expected, with locally higher amounts possible, Brown said. “It’s not going to slow down that much,” however, meaning even heavier rainfall is not expected, he said.

At 8 a.m. Wednesday, Bonnie was centered about 265 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving north at 6 mph. It was expected to turn northeast and speed up during the day, forecasters said.

The storm had maximum sustained wind of near 50 mph and would likely get stronger during the day, forecasters said. Tropical storm-force wind extended up to 45 miles from the center.

“It could be a fairly strong tropical storm at landfall,” said hurricane center specialist James Franklin.

Charley, in the Caribbean Sea, was first a threat to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Haiti and Cuba.

As of 8 a.m., Charley was centered 115 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and moving west-northwest around 24 mph. Charley had maximum sustained wind near 65 mph and could become a hurricane Wednesday or Thursday, forecasters said.

Jamaica was under a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch. A hurricane warning was issued for the Cayman Islands and a tropical storm warning was in place for the southern peninsula of Haiti.

Bonnie and Charley are the second and third named storms of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

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On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov