Tropical Storm Andrea

Tropical Storm Andrea, The first tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is nearing landfall Thursday afternoon in Florida. It continued to bring drenching rain to much of the state.

As of 2 p.m. ET, Tropical Storm Andrea had winds of 60 mph and was moving to the northeast at 17 mph.

The storm has already spawned 10 tornadoes today in Florida, says severe storm expert Greg Forbes of The Weather Channel. A tornado watch remained in effect for much of Florida throughout the day.

The city of Zephyrhills, Fla., about 30 miles northwest of Tampa, was drenched Thursday afternoon by off-and-on rain squalls from Andrea, but nobody was too worried. "In Florida, it's very common to have tropical storm warnings and watches," said City Manager Jim Drumm.

"We'll probably see some low-level flooding, and we'll probably get some high winds," Drumm said. "But we're probably the furthest inland city in Pasco County. We won't see the difficulty that the coastal surge can make."

Tropical storm warnings remained in effect for a large section of Florida's west coast from Boca Grande to Indian Pass and for the East Coast from Flagler Beach, Fla., all the way to Cape Charles Light in Virginia.

Andrea brought heavy rain, gusty winds, rough surf and severe thunderstorms to much of Florida throughout Thursday, AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

As much as 4 to 7 inches of rain is possible across much of northern Florida over the next couple of days, the weather service says. Flood watches have been posted for much of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

The storm is then forecast to head up the Eastern Seaboard on Friday and Saturday, delivering heavy rain and thunderstorms from the Mid-Atlantic to New England.

Andrea is not forecast to strengthen into a hurricane.

The system has already produced drenching rain in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in western Cuba, according to the hurricane center. Influences from Andrea have contributed to the 13.9 inches of rain that Bahia Honda, Cuba, has received since Monday, AccuWeather says.

Tropical Storm Andrea 2013-06-06T13:08:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: My Videos Tube