🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Tropical Storm Nicole is forecast to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in Florida and projections estimate that the storm is headed in the direction of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
Trump's Florida residence as of Tuesday evening is within the National Hurricane Center's forecast cone of uncertainty, which accurately predicts the size and scope of a storm within 60 to 70 percent of the time.
Accuweather told Newsweek that while forecasters aren't anticipating the storm to strike Mar-a-Lago, "we are expecting at least some wind and rain from the storm for the location." Storm surging should not be an issue for the Palm Beach estate, but windy and rainy conditions are expected just north of the area.
Scattered showers across Florida prompted hurricane warnings on Tuesday, although landfall is not expected until early Thursday. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday declared a state of emergency in preparation of the storm's arrival.
Tropical Storm Nicole, which would be the first hurricane to hit the U.S. in November in nearly 40 years, comes just about a month after Florida was struck by the deadliest hurricane it has seen in nearly a century. At the end of September, Category 4 storm Hurricane Ian killed at least 120 people across the state and left millions of residents without power.
Mandatory evacuations have been announced for certain residents in Volusia, Flagler and Palm Beach counties—the latter where Mar-a-Lago is located—and several school districts, including this School District of Palm Beach County, have preemptively canceled classes for Wednesday and Thursday.
Jamie Rhome, the acting director of the National Hurricane Center, said while forecasters expect Tropical Storm Nicole to strengthen slowly, rather than rapidly, the storm is still anticipated to impact large chunks of the Florida peninsula.
"We're not forecasting a major hurricane," Rhome said in a Monday video posted to Twitter. "Again, not an Ian situation, but still a potentially impactful system. So, Florida residents need to be taking this seriously."
Despite Tuesday's rainy weather conditions, officials do not expect the storm to disrupt voting on Election Day.
"We won't really start to see any significant impacts from Nicole until really Tuesday night to Wednesday, so really it shouldn't have a huge impact on voting operations tomorrow," NHC hurricane specialist Philippe Papin told the Associated Press (AP) on Monday.
The former president was seen voting in Florida on Tuesday, and told reporters that he cast his ballot for DeSantis, despite the two having recently had a tumultuous relationship.
Trump is expected to watch the results of Election Night from his Mar-a-Lago residence, and has hinted he has plans to make a "big announcement" from the south Florida home next Tuesday. The news has caused some to speculate whether the event will announce his official bid for the 2024 presidential race.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more