Florida residents are warned to prepare for Storm Nicole as they recover from Hurricane Ian

As Florida residents are rebuilding after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian – the most deadly hurricane in the state for over 90 years – they are being warned of Subtropical Storm Nicole due to strike later this week.

Storm Nicole is a subtropical storm that could become a Category 1 hurricane before hitting Florida’s east coast late on Wednesday or Thursday.

The National Hurricane Center put into place a Hurricane Watch for much of the coast from the Volusia/Brevard County Line to Hallandale Beach as well as for Lake Okeechobee. 

The expected arrival of Storm Nicole in Florida comes around a month after Category 4 Hurricane Ian inflicted considerable destruction to the state towards the end of September. 

On Monday morning Storm Nicole was heading north easterly at a speed of around 9 mph, according to a notice put out by the National Hurricane Center at 10am.

Its heading will become more easterly in the next day and on Wednesday it is expected to pass over the northwestern Bahamas, according to the notice.

It will then hit the coast of Florida on Wednesday night and storm surges are expected. Storm Surge Watches were put into place between Altamaha Sound and Hallandale Beach.

Nicole is unique in that is a late-season storm.

Subtropical Storm Nicole is expected to hit the east coast of Florida on Wednesday night and Thursday evening. Parts of the coast have been placed on Hurricane Watch

Parts of Florida’s east coast have also been place on Storm Surge Watch, with up to four inches of rain expected around Tampa and two in Orlando

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On Monday Florida governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for half of the state’s counties.

‘While this storm does not, at this time, appear that it will become much stronger, I urge all Floridians to be prepared and to listen to announcements from local emergency management officials,’ he said. 

DeSantis also put out a press release on November 6 regarding the impending arrival of Storm Nicole.

‘I encourage all Floridians to be prepared and make a plan in the event a storm impacts Florida,’ said DeSantis.

‘We will continue to monitor the path and trajectory of Invest 98L [Nicole] and we remain in constant contact with all state and local government partners.’

The press release also advised residents of a number of cheap or free measures they could take to prepare for the storm. Those included keeping up-to-date with weather alerts and keeping car gas tank at least half full in case urgent evacuation is required.

Subtropical Storm Nicole may develop into a hurricane later this week but is unified in that it has occurred late in the Atlantic hurricane season

Maps from the National Hurricane Center show that parts of the coast will potentially be struck by storm surges that will cause rising water levels

A subtropical storm is a cyclone with a consistent wind speed of greater than 29 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center, which is based in Florida. 

They have cold as opposed to warm cores and are different from a tropical storms in that they have a lesser likelihood of developing into hurricanes, according to the National Weather Service.

A Category 1 storm is the lowest classification for a storm on the hurricane wind scale and applies to those with minimum sustained wind speeds of 74 mph.

Storm Nicole wind speeds are expected to reach around 70 mph on Wednesday as it passes over the Bahamas

Hurricane Ian last month caused between $1.1billion and $1.8billion of damage to the state’s agricultural infrastructure alone, according to an estimate released by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The hurricane also caused at least 120 deaths in Florida, more than any hurricane in over 90 years.

Hurricane Ian – which devastated highly populated areas of south west Florida including Naples and Fort Myers – affected both coastal and inland communities by the flooding of homes but wind damage was comparatively less extensive.

Hurricane Ian caused between $1.1billion and $1.8billion of damage to the state’s agricultural infrastructure alone

At least 120 people were killed in Florida, the highest number of deaths in the state caused by a hurricane in more than 90 years

Areas south of Tampa, a region particularly affected by Ian, could be drenched by between two and four inches of rain, CNN reported. Meanwhile Orlando is expected to see between one and two inches. 

During a briefing on Sunday the National Hurricane Center’s Acting Deputy Director Michael Brennan said that the storm is expected to be significantly less damaging than Ian. 

Brennan also suggested that due to the large scale of the storm the location of its epicenter is not as critical and it will affect wide areas.

‘Do not focus on the exact track of Nicole since it is expected to be a large storm with hazards extending well to the north of the center, and outside the cone,’ the National Hurricane Center said on Monday.