Tropical Cyclone • Florida • Subtropical Cyclone • National Hurricane Center

Residents of Brevard County are preparing for Subtropical Storm Nicole is getting stronger and is now barreling northwest toward Florida’s east coast with dangerous surf, hurricane-force gusts, and torrential rain.

According to Jessie Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, the storm could become a Category 1 hurricane sometime on Wednesday and could possibly make landfall anywhere from Miami to Cape Canaveral.

Brevard and nearby coastal counties were given a hurricane watch on Monday because of the storm’s erratic path into the state, which may bring hurricane-force winds within 48 hours.

The National Weather Service warned of “severe beach erosion with heavy waves breaching dunes” and moderate damage to moorings, docks, and other seaside facilities throughout the east coast in its surge warning at 11 a.m. According to the weather service, there is also a chance of tornadoes.

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Due to the warm waters surrounding the Bahamas, the storm may also intensify into a hurricane.

For the east coast of Florida, including Brevard, a storm surge watch was also issued, with waves offshore potentially reaching 19 to 29 feet.

The storm, the year’s fourteenth named system, developed off the Bahamas on Monday.

The National Hurricane Center said that Nicole was getting better organised, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, and was moving at a speed of 14 mph toward the north-northwest. The hurricane was 721 miles east of West Palm Beach on Monday morning.

Brevard has already received multiple advisories from the National Weather Service in Melbourne, including a coastal flood watch, which indicates that rough seas may flood beaches from Daytona Beach to the Space Coast and south.