Tropical Storm Erika on the move

Click here for Wednesday's updates.

Update, 11 p.m.:

At 11 p.m., Erika was situated at 16.0 N, 54.4 W, or about 495 miles east of Antigua. The storm still had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and minimum central pressure of 1006 millibars. It was moving west at 18 mph.

Its projected five-day track takes it in the general vicinity of the east coast of Florida as a hurricane, and that, National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Bragaw says, should prompt residents to at least take early precautions.

“At this point, this storm is still a good five days away based on the latest forecast," Bragaw said. "I would start doing preliminary checklists, making sure that any supplies that you might need are stocked."

He also said there's no reason for residents to panic, either.

“I’m not running out to Lowe’s tomorrow to buy six pieces of plywood to slap on my door tomorrow,” he added Tuesday night.

Update, 8 p.m.:

As of the 8 p.m. advisory, Erika was centered at 15.8 N, 53.6 W, about 545 miles east of Antigua, with minimum barometric pressure again rising from 1004 to 1006 mb. It was still moving west at 10 mph.

Update, 5 p.m.:

Tropical Storm Erika was centered at 15.6N, 52.8W as of the 5 p.m. from the National Hurricane Center. Winds remained at 40 MPH, though barometric pressure went up just a tad from 1003 to 1004 millibars.

Original story:

Tropical Storm Erika is continuing on a track that could place it within several hundred miles reach of Florida's eastern coast by next week, according to projections from the National Hurricane Center. Much still depends on Erika's passage near the mountainous regions of Puerto Rico and the island of Hispaniola, weather officials say.

The storm, however, continues to show little change in strength, with sustained winds recorded at 45 mph, according to the 2 p.m. update from the hurricane center. An Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft is being dispatched to the storm later this afternoon to retrieve further information from the developing storm which has tropical force storm winds extending out to about 80 miles from its center. Melbourne weather officials are keeping a close eye on the storm as it continues move westward, taking aim for the warm waters of the northeastern Caribbean.

A warning cone based on the computer models shows that at some point this week, Tropical Storm Erika could possibly turn toward a northwestern direction, placing Florida in its path.

“It’s moving pretty rapidly,” said Tony Cristaldi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.

The storm is expected to show some signs of strengthening over the next few days and could make that northwestern turn in several days.

“No need to get overly anxious just yet, but we advise everyone to monitor it. And it’s always good to review your hurricane preparedness plan,” Cristaldi said.

Cristaldi said the storm could run into interference as it crosses near Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, both mountainous islands that have been known to shred the convection and interrupt the flow of previous storms.

“(The mountains) can disrupt the circulation of the storm,” Cristaldi said, adding that forecasters will have a better idea about the path of the storm in at least five days.

A tropical storm watch has area been issued for several islands in the region, include Monserrat, Antigua, St. Kitts and St. Eustatius. A tropical storm watch means that conditions are favorable for the area to experience storm conditions within a two-day period.

The next hurricane advisory will be issued at 5 p.m.

Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642, jdgallop@floridatoday.com or on Twitter at @JDGallop

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