The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Hermine has formed from a system swirling in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Miami-based center said a hurricane hunter plane has determined that a tropical depression strengthened Wednesday into the named storm, and Hermine now boasts top sustained winds of 40 mph.
It says Hermine is centered about 415 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Fla., and is drifting at 2 mph toward the north.
The center said the tropical storm should turn more toward the northeast with increasing speed Thursday and is on a forecast track that would approach the northwest Florida coast about Thursday afternoon.
