Tropical Storm Alert for South Florida

Tropical storm warnings have been posted for the southern Florida coast and Keys, as forecasters late Thursday morning identified a depression that could become a tropical storm later in the day.

Forecasters said the newly formed tropical depression, which was centered about 405 miles east-southeast of Key Largo, Fla., and had sustained winds of 35 mph, could strengthen later today into a tropical storm. If so, it would be named Bonnie.

The tropical storm warning was issued by the National Hurricane Center at 11 a.m. for areas of Florida south of the Fort Myers area on the Gulf coast and south of Fort Lauderdale on the Atlantic side of the state.

A tropical storm watch extends northward along the Atlantic coast to just north of West Palm Beach.

The Hurricance Center predicted that the depression would likely dump 2 to 4 inches of rain across south Florida through the weekend, with isolated areas receiving 5 to 6 inches.