Hurricane Nicole downgraded to tropical storm, as it heads towards Tampa Bay

Nicole made landfall along Florida’s east coast early Thursday morning, marking the first time a  hurricane has struck the state in November in nearly 40 years.

The storm made landfall at around 3 a.m. this morning near Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane, packing max winds of 75 mph, dangerous storm surge and heavy rains, but was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm.

According to the National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) 7 a.m. update, Nicole’s track hasn’t deviated much from previous models and is still moving west-northwest at 14 mph about 55 miles east of Tampa and 30 miles southwest of Orlando, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.

With bands stretching out over 450 miles, the whole state is expected to experience strong winds and rain this morning and afternoon.

Forecasters predict  3-5 inches of rain for most areas of central Florida, with some chances of urban flash flooding, warns the NHC. 

As of now, the Tampa Bay area is experiencing 50 mph wind gusts.

Tornadoes are also possible over parts of east-central and northeastern Florida, according to the center.

Power outages have been reported throughout the Tampa Bay area, with Hillsborough County reporting over 15,000 customers currently without power, and roughly 7,000 in Pasco County.

The storm is expected to continue to weaken as it treks across the peninsula towards the Tampa Bay region, which is currently under a tropical storm watch, before it turns north and heads into southern Georgia on Friday, likely as a depression.

According to the Associated Press, the last time a hurricane made landfall in Florida in November was Kate in 1985, which was a Category 2 storm, and before that the Yankee Hurricane of 1935. 

This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2022.