FLORIDA KEYS UNDER HURRICANE WATCH, TROPICAL STORM WATCH ISSUED FOR PARTS OF SOUTH FLORIDA
August 17, 2008 – 3:14 pmTropical Storm Fay might flirt with becoming a hurricane before it crosses over central Cuba tonight. And it might well be a hurricane when it reaches the Keys on Monday evening. For now, the National Hurricane Center thinks the system will remain a strong tropical storm until it reaches Florida's west coast. Then, it is predicted to intensify into a Category 1 hurricane and strike somewhere between Fort Myers and Tampa on Tuesday morning. While the projected path has shifted right and left over the past two days, on Sunday morning it was again nudged back to the east, putting the Port Charlotte area under the gun. Hurricane Charley struck that same region as a Category 4 system in August 2004. The track shift also increased the chances that South Florida could see tropical storm conditions. The National Weather Service in Miami predicts much of this region will see gusts up to 45 ...