Florida Buckles Down for Tropical Storm Noel

Noel is the deadliest storm in the Caribbean since Tropical Storm Jeanne hit Haiti in 2004, killing an estimated 3,000 people.

Map courtesy: Accuweather.com

(STATE COLLEGE, Pa.) - Tropical Storm Noel today will move through the northwestern Bahamas before passing about 100 miles east of southeastern Florida. There is a small window for Noel to intensify into a weak Category 1 hurricane before strong wind shear tonight interacts with the storm.

South Florida today will be buffeted by wind gusting to 40-mph and occasional blasts of drenching rain. The onshore winds over the past several days along the east coast of Florida have created rough seas, dangerous rip currents, severe beach erosion, and coastal flooding.

Through Saturday, weather experts at Accuweather.com say Noel will lose its tropical characteristics as it steams northeast off the East Coast. Despite weakening, rain on Friday will brush the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Strong winds and pounding surf will spread along the East Coast through Saturday evening, when the storm is forecast to be roughly 150 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass.

On Saturday, the storm will lash extreme eastern New England from Cape Cod to downeast Maine. Canadian Weather Expert Brett Anderson reports by Sunday, the storm will slam into Atlantic Canada, with torrential rain and fierce winds forecast in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Noel is the deadliest storm in the Caribbean since Tropical Storm Jeanne hit Haiti in 2004, killing an estimated 3,000 people.