Noel strengthens, will skirt SE Florida
Tropical Storm Noel is pulling away from the north coast of Cuba after pummeling the Greater Antilles with high winds, heavy rain, deadly flooding and landslides. It appears to be strengthening as it gets away from the mountainous islands, and Florida's Gold Coast has been warned to expect high winds as Noel begins to skirt the shoreline.
UPDATE: A tropical storm watch has been issued this afternoon for Florida's southeast coast.
EARLIER: It does NOT appear that the storm will go ashore anywhere on the U.S. mainland. But as it turns northward, it will likely affect the coast with heavy surf and winds. Florida is already under high wind advisories or gale warnings, and those could be boosted to tropical storm warnings if the storm gets stronger and moves close enough to the Atlantic beaches.
Here is the latest advisory. Here's the predicted storm track. And here's the view from space.
