NHC: Eta Continues Towards Gulf, Turn Expected Soon

Daytona Beach, FL - Tropical Storm Eta continues on a march towards the Gulf of Mexico after making landfall in the Florida Keys. At 7:00 a.m. on Monday (November 9th), an Air Force Reserve Reconnaissance aircraft & NOAA Doppler radars found the system moving westward near 13 mph. That movement is expected to continue throughout most of the morning, followed by a west-southwestward turn with some reduction in forward speed this afternoon and tonight. On the current forecast track, the center of Eta will gradually move away from the Florida Keys and south Florida today, and will remain over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico tonight through Wednesday. Forecasters believe that the system will have little motion on Tuesday before it begins a northward track back towards the Florida Peninsula on Wednesday.  Data shows that the storm currently has maximum sustained winds of 65 mph with higher gusts as tropical storm-force winds extend outwards about 310 miles from the center of the storm.  Eta is also forecast to become a hurricane as it moves over the Gulf, following some strengthening the storm is expected to encounter throughout the next day or so. So far, no school has been cancelled in the area. "We are working with the Volusia County Emergency Management to monitor what is happening with Tropical Storm Eta," said Volusia County Schools on Twitter. "At this time there are no plans to close schools." Flagler, meanwhile, has not made any public statements regarding the status of schools.