Gov. Rick Scott is urging residents in Florida's Panhandle to keep an eye on Tropical Storm Nate, which formed off the coast of Nicaragua and is expected to approach the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Scott was in Pensacola on Thursday morning, meeting with city and emergency management officials.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami says strengthening is likely as the storm moves over the northwestern Caribbean Sea Thursday night and Friday.
The storm is centered about 10 miles south Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and is moving northwest near 8 mph. The storm's current forecast track shows it possibly approaching the Gulf Coast over the weekend as a hurricane.
Scott tweeted that the storm has the potential to affect the Panhandle starting this weekend.
