Andrea Falls Apart; Impact Minimal

May 10, 2007

ORLANDO, FL (Internet Broadcasting Systems) — A preseason subtropical storm weakened early Thursday and is now expected to meander in the Atlantic Ocean for the next few days before falling apart, according to Local 6 meteorologist Larry Mowry.

"It will have very low impact on us here in Central Florida," Mowry said. "All of the thunderstorm activity is well to the east of it. There is just very little rain close to us."

The National Hurricane Center said the year's first named storm had top sustained winds near 40 mph early Thursday. Andrea was centered about 135 miles southeast of Savannah and about 100 miles northeast of Daytona Beach Wednesday night.

The storm was nearly stationary and no significant motion was expected during the next 24 hours.

Andrea was forecast to have maximum sustained winds of 40 mph on Thursday and 35 mph winds when it moves ashore near Daytona Beach.

"It then becomes a big pocket of low pressure over the course of the next couple of days," Local 6 meteorologist Tom Sorrells said. "We are not going to make this into a bigger wind event than it ought to be."

"We are not looking at this system strengthening significantly," hurricane specialist Richard Pasch said.

Pasch said it wasn’t unusual for the storm to form in May, outside the hurricane season that starts June 1 and end Nov. 30.

Eighteen tropical storms and four hurricanes have been recorded in that month since 1851; the earliest hurricane had made landfall on the U.S. was Alma in northwest Florida on June 9, 1966.