Tropical Storm Idalia forms in Gulf of Mexico could hit Florida

A tropical storm formed Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico and was expected to bring damaging storm surge and hurricane-force winds to Florida by midweek.

Tropical Storm Idalia was located just south of Cancun and western Cuba when it turned into a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 40 mph on Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving only 2 mph.

The storm posed no immediate danger to the U.S., but was expected to pick up speed and strength throughout the week as it churned over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Meteorologists predicted it would strike northwest Florida on Wednesday as a Category 1 hurricane, with winds between 74 and 95 mph.

“A generally northward to north-northeastward motion at an increasing forward speed is expected on Monday and Tuesday,” the NHC wrote in a Sunday afternoon forecast. The storm was predicted to reach hurricane status on Tuesday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 33 of Florida’s 67 counties, including all those near the Gulf Coast.

“This thing hasn’t even gotten to Cuba yet, and the water in the Gulf is very, very warm and so that will provide some fuel for this thing to pick up some more speed,” the governor said Sunday afternoon.

A hurricane watch and a storm surge watch were issued for communities up and down the Gulf Coast. The northwest and panhandle region of Florida is very vulnerable to storm surges, according to Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center.

“It will not take a strong system or a direct hit to produce significant storm surge,” he said.

The storm was not predicted to cause significant damage in southwest Florida, which was battered by Hurricane Ian last year.

With News Wire Services