Shortly after 10am this morning, the National Hurricane Center issued a Hurricane Watch notification for Coastal St. Johns County, meaning hurricane force winds are possible in the area within the next 48 hours.

More certain is the continuing Tropical Storm Warning, anticipating wind speeds of 35-45 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph beginning early Thursday morning.

A Storm Surge is also forecast along the North Florida coastline, with the potential for 3-5 feet above ground. Nichole is expected to bring 4-6 inches of rain to our region.

Some of the forecasting uncertainty stems from the erratic nature of Tropical Storm Nicole which is battering the Bahamas and strengthening into a potential hurricane before an expected onshore arrival sometime Thursday morning around Melbourne Fl.

From there, the storm’s path gets even trickier to predict. Nichole was once expected to make a beeline across the state and emerge out into the northern Gulf. However, forecasters have re-calibrated their projections and expect Nichole to turn north slowly after landfall through Central and Northern Florida.

But that too could change, so stay alert.