Tropical Storm Fred made landfall into the Dominican Republic Wednesday, with much of South Florida remaining in the storm's cone of concern.
The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center had the storm with winds of 40 mph as it moved west-northwest at 15 mph about 75 miles west-northwest of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Dominican Republic on the south coast from Punta Palenque eastward and on the north coast from Cabo Frances Viejo eastward.
A tropical storm watch was issued for Haiti from the northern border with the Dominican Republic to Gonaives, Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas as well as the provinces in Cuba of Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantanamo.
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On the forecast track, Fred moved slightly south and was expected be near or over Hispaniola on Wednesday, and be near the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands on Thursday.
Nearly eight inches of rain could fall in portions of the Dominican Republic and Bahamas with mudslides being a potential risk. Forecasts show the system could skirt over the northern coast of Cuba before a possible move around the west coast of Florida.
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Much of South Florida and the Florida Keys remained in the system's cone of concern. South Florida should continue to monitor the forecast for any anticipated impacts Friday night through Sunday.
As much as five to eight inches of rain could fall in portions of the Keys along with flash flooding in parts of South Florida.
Reconnaissance aircraft, currently flying out of the Homestead Air Reserve base, will periodically survey the storm collecting data.
