The first tropical storm of what could be a busy 2013 Atlantic hurricane season formed near the Gulf of Mexico on June 5 according to Reuters.
Tropical Storm Andrea swirled over the east-central Gulf, around 310 miles southwest of Tampa, F.L., and was moving at winds of 40 miles per hour.
The storm poses no threat to the U.S. oil and gas operations in the Gulf according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.
Click here for the latest updates on the storm.
Andrea is expected to drop anywhere between 3 to 6 inches or rain over Florida and southeast Georgia. The eastern parts of North and South Carolina could get up to 4 inches of rain according to the hurricane center.
"The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters," the hurricane center said.
Experts currently predict that Andrea won't strengthen into a hurricane but will make landfall over northwest Florida sometime today, June 6, before moving over southeastern Georgia and eastern South Carolina.
The storm could dump heavy rain across most of the Florida Peninsula and flooding is expected along parts of the state's west coast according to the hurricane center.
The average hurricane season, which starts June 1 through November, brings 12 tropical storms, six hurricanes, three of which are usually Category 3 or above.
Category 3 or above hurricanes have winds of 110mph or more according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As of press time Andrea carried maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, well below the 74 mph minimum for a hurricane to form according to CNN.
The hurricane center predicts the U.S. could see 13 to 20 tropical storms, seven to 11 of which could become hurricanes.
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