Florida's emerging hurricane threat: Tropical Storm Ian

Tropical Storm Ian is set to take aim at South Florida as a hurricane as early as Wednesday, forecasters said Friday.

What had been Tropical Depression Nine formed at 5 a.m. Friday and strengthened at 11 p.m. into Tropical Storm Ian, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm in the central Caribbean Sea had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. Ian was around 385 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and was moving west-northwest at 12 mph, the hurricane center said. Hurricane conditions could be felt in the Cayman Islands early Monday, it said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 24 counties Friday due to the threat, when it was still a tropical depression.

“This storm has the potential to strengthen into a major hurricane and we encourage all Floridians to make their preparations,” DeSantis said in a statement.

A depression is a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph or less, while a tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm is forecasted to bring gusty winds and heavy rain to Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, Jamaica and northern parts of South America through the weekend. On Monday, it is expected to affect Cuba, then emerge over the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, affecting Florida on Wednesday.

A hurricane watch was in place for the Cayman Islands, which are south of Cuba, and a tropical storm watch was in place for Jamaica, the National Hurricane Center said late Friday when Ian strengthened.

Rain could cause mudslides in Jamaica and Cuba, it said. The Caymans and Jamaica could get 4 to 8 inches of rain, and western and central Cuba could get between 6 to 10 inches, according to the agency.

As the storm has the potential to rapidly intensify over the next few days into early next week, it may hit South Florida as a hurricane on Wednesday. The exact timing and location of where it would make landfall was unknown Friday.

The potential hurricane is currently forecasted to approach Florida as strong as a Category 2 storm, meaning winds of 96 to 110 mph can cause extensive damage to well-constructed homes, snap or uproot shallowly-rooted trees and block roads, according to the National Hurricane Center. Power outages that last days or weeks are also a possibility.

A hurricane hasn't made landfall on the Florida Peninsula in five years, since Irma in 2017, while the northwestern part of the state was pummeled by Sally in 2020 and Michael in 2018.

CORRECTION (Sept. 23, 2022, 6:43 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated that Tropical Depression Nine had been upgraded to a tropical storm. It is still a tropical depression.