People are
getting worried about potential Tropical Storm Hermine. If it does head towards the Gulf of Mexico, that would be very bad, because no matter which way it goes, it'll hit someone hard. It's still unclear if it's heading to the Gulf of Mexico, though. Some models suggest it'll head to Miami instead. The danger is that it will strengthen quite slowly, and then blow up quickly only once it's too close to land to get people properly evacuated:
On Wednesday morning, the American model showed the storm as a large and possibly major hurricane. It showed it making landfall in the Florida Panhandle by September 30. The European model had it hitting the southern section of Florida a day earlier -- but as a much smaller, though nearly as intense a storm.
By Thursday morning, the model runs had shifted. The European model looks more like the American model from Wednesday, more intense and making landfall further up the west coast of Florida. It's still forecasting a faster storm, meaning it would land September 29.
The updated American model from Thursday morning shows a much slower storm. It spins in the Gulf of Mexico for days, growing in size and then making landfall in Louisiana on Sunday.
Conditions in the Gulf are favorable for the system to strengthen, and it will do that very rapidly, Torres told CNN.
[UPDATE: And the latest model runs are rolling out now, and generally pointing to a landfall along Florida's west coast - anywhere from Naples to the Suwannee River, which brackets Tampa - about a week from now - Thursday the 29th of September. Time to start worrying about this, and checking on supplies.]
