Tropical Storm Ian will become a hurricane today and bypass the Yucatán Peninsula on Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Ian will reach major hurricane strength by late Monday before it hits western Cuba the next day, forecasters said.
The center of Ian is forecast to pass well southwest of Jamaica today and pass near or west of the Cayman Islands early Monday.
Yucatán has declared a minimal “blue alert” for the eastern half of the state, meaning residents should still pay attention to the possibility of some weather damage.
Ian will then move near or over western Cuba on Monday night and early on Tuesday, emerging over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, it added.
The storm had top sustained winds of 50 mph / 85 kph on Sunday morning as it swirled about 345 miles / 555 kilometers southeast of Grand Cayman.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency across the entire state.
An earlier hurricane, Fiona, had transformed into a post-tropical storm late Friday, but it still had hurricane-strength winds and brought drenching rains and huge waves. There was no confirmation of fatalities or injuries.
