Nate Becomes A Tropical Storm, Jogs To The West

ATLANTA, GA — Tropical Storm Nate officially formed in the Caribbean Thursday morning, with forecasters predicting it will pick up hurricane force on its way toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Nate, the 14th named storm of the 2017 hurricane season in the Atlantic, was located about 10 miles south of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua at 8 a.m., heading northwest near 8 m.p.h.

That movement is potentially good news for Georgia. While the movements of hurricanes and tropical storms can be erratic, the storm's most likely path has shifted significantly westward from where it was the same time Wednesday morning.

Its cone of probability now includes the southern coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the western tip of the Florida panhandle. Georgia could still feel the storm's force, though. Forecast models show the storm striking the Gulf Coast, then moving northeast through the northern part of the state, including metro Atlanta. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

The storm is expected to make landfall in the continental United States on Sunday.

Thursday morning, Nate was packing maximum sustained winds of 40 m.p.h. Tropical storm-force winds extended out 60 miles from Nate’s center.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for portions of Nicaragua and Honduras. Hurricane watches also are in place from Punta Herrero to Rio Lagartos, Mexico. Warnings mean that tropical storm or hurricane conditions are expected in the watch area.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Nicaragua may witness rainfall amounts of 15 to 20 inches with isolated pockets up to 30 inches before the storm clears the country on its path toward the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm comes as memories of Hurricane Irma remain fresh in the minds of Georgians.

After devastating the Caribbean Islands, Irma made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 10, then rolled into Georgia the next day, first as a tropical storm then, ultimately as a tropical depression.

Four deaths in the state were connected to the storm — two directly and two when a mother and child who had evacuated to Georgia from Florida were killed in a traffic accident. Roughly 1.5 million Georgians were without power at the height of the storm and coastal communities were flooded.
In all, the storm did more than $330 million worth of property damage in the state, insurance officials said.

Photos via National Hurricane Center