Noel Expected To Become Cat. 1 Storm Near South Fla.

ORLANDO, Fla.-The latest projected path for Noel shows the storm system moving near South Florida as a possible Category 1 hurricane."Noel is going to make its closest approach to Florida during the day Wednesday," Local 6 meteorologist Larry Mowry said. "At (the storm's) closest approached to Florida, it could be just 50 miles offshore of Miami."The storm is expected to turn to the northwest Tuesday and then curve to the north early Wednesday as it gets picked up by a cold front to the north."Just how close it gets to South Florida will all be determined by how fast a cold front picks up the storm and lifts it to the north and to the east," Mowry said. "At this point, it does not appear it will come on shore."Most of the winds were expected to stay on the north and east side of the storm and away from Florida.Some Central Florida coastal counties can expect significant beach erosion and wind gusts of up to 45 mph.The worst of the weather is expected to be in the Bahamas.The storm had sustained winds of 60 mph this morning and some strengthening is forecast.Tuesday, Noel's center was about 270 miles south-southeast of Nassau, Bahamas. Forecasters said it had been moving toward the west at about 12 mph but was expected to turn toward the northwest later today.Forecasters said a tropical storm watch, which means that tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours, may be issued for southeast Florida later in the day.

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As in the days of Noah....