Live Nicole updates: Reinforcements on the way to help Tallahassee power up after storm

Thursday updates: Live Tropical Storm Nicole updates: When will Tallahassee see the worst of it?

6:45 p.m. update| Veterans Day parade still on in Tallahassee

Tallahassee City Manager Reese Goad said Friday’s Veterans Day parade downtown was still on as Hurricane Nicole tracks closer towards Florida.

The storm, which grew to hurricane strength Wednesday night, is expected to move across the Florida Peninsula Thursday and bring winds between 30 and 40 mph to the Tallahassee area as well as 2 to 4 inches of rain.

Details: Looking for Veterans Day events in Tallahassee? Watch the parade roll out on Friday

The parade starts at 10 a.m. but by then National Weather Service meteorologists say the storm should already have begun moving north into Georgia.

Assessed damage would be the determining factor for continuing with the festivities, Goad said during Wednesday’s City Commission meeting.

“At this point, it's moving forward,” he said. “As long as the weather has cleared and there’s no unexpected events, I believe it will continue.”

4 p.m. | Models are split on whether Tallahassee will be on Nicole's good side

When it comes to tropical weather, you don't want to be on the "dirty side" of the storm. The east side of a hurricane is the worst in terms of wind speed, storm surge and overall power.

When it comes to Nicole, it could also make a big difference in what kind of impacts Tallahassee sees.

Models are currently split on whether Tallahassee will be on the dirty side. To follow along with the latest model runs, check out our Hurricane Tracker and Model Mixer.

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3 p.m. | Louisiana linemen crews headed to Florida

Louisiana linemen are staging in Tallahassee to embark on repairs in the event power lines are downed in Tropical Storm Nicole.

Crews from Lafayette Utilities System in Lafayette, Louisiana, departed for Florida's capital city Wednesday morning.

“LUS crews will ride out the storm with the Tallahassee crews and will assist in restoration once weather conditions are safe,” LUS officials said in a social media post.

Tallahassee city officials shared the post and said they were “monitoring Nicole and preparing should there be impacts to our community.”

2 p.m. | State of Emergency extended to North Florida counties

With Tropical Storm Nicole expected to make landfall Wednesday night on the East Coast as a hurricane and then move through Central Florida and North Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded a state of emergency to 11 additional counties.

DeSantis on Monday issued an executive order declaring an emergency in 34 counties in South and Central Florida.

The 11 added Wednesday were Alachua, Bradford, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hernando, Jefferson, Levy, Marion, Pinellas, Taylor and Wakulla counties.

-News Service of Florida

12 p.m. | Leon County Schools closed in advance of Nicole

It'll be a four day weekend for students in the Leon County School District.

►Details here.

10 a.m. | Nicole expected to be a blustery rainmaker for Tallahassee

Tropical Storm Nicole could prove to be a beneficial rainmaker for the Tallahassee area as it is forecast to move through the area Thursday and Friday.

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee issued a tropical storm warning for the Big Bend region, extending west to Gulf County Wednesday morning.

There is potential for sustained winds between 30 and 40 mph starting around midday Thursday, said Tallahassee-based National Weather Service meteorologist Israel Gonzalez. Accompanying those winds, the storm could dump more than 2 inches of rain across the area.

“The earliest reasonable arrival time looks like like tonight into the early morning hours of Thursday,” Gonzalez said.

Forecasters say the main impacts would include isolated power outages, downed trees, coastal erosion and inundation of flood-prone areas.

Nicole is moving slowly toward Florida’s east coast and impacts are expected to cross to the west coast before it hooks north and gains steam before moving into Georgia Friday.

Coastal areas in Jefferson, Taylor and Wakulla counties could see storm surge between 3 and 5 feet and rainfall between 2 and 4 inches. Storm surge warnings have not been extended further west.

The rainfall totals expected have increased in more recent forecasts. North Florida is under a severe drought with the last large rainfall in early September.

Nicole could ease that, but flooding is not expected to be a major issue, Gonzalez said.

“Given the prolonged dry conditions we’ve been experiencing since mid-September, it doesn’t warrant huge concerns on the flooding rainfall,” he said. “The main impacts are going to be winds followed by a lower end threat for heavy rainfall. It does look like its going to be a quick hitter in a sense.”

Leon County is partially activating its Emergency Operations Center Thursday in anticipation of the storm, said spokesman Matt Cavell.

Cavell said that means select departments, such as road-based operations and cut-and-toss public works crews, would be on standby in the event of tree damage from high winds.

The county however is not activating its sandbag locations because of the slight potential for flooding rains.

8 a.m. update: Tallahassee could see 30 to 60 mph winds as Nicole nears Florida

Tallahassee awoke to a tropical storm warning Wednesday morning as a near hurricane-strength system closes in on Florida.

Tropical Storm Nicole, which is currently packing a vast windfield of 70 mph gusts about 240 miles east of West Palm Beach, is expected to become a hurricane soon. Forecasters say the storm will likely punch through the peninsula of Florida along the Treasure Coast and skirt the state's Gulf Coast into North Florida before being swept northeast into Georgia.

Tracking the storm: Tropical Storm Nicole winds up to 70 mph. Forecast calls for Florida landfall as hurricane

At 4 a.m., the National Hurricane Center issued the warning for Tallahassee and Leon County noting that tropical storm-force winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are expected within the area in the next 36 hours.

The area could also see the potential for flooding as Nicole dumps 2 to 4 inches of rain, with local higher totals, on an area that has seen drought conditions since September.

"A slight west shift in track for this update means rainfall amounts have increased and tropical storm warnings have also expanded north and west," according to forecasters at the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.

The previous Tropical Storm Warning stopped at the Jefferson/Leon County border. The threat now extends to Wakulla, Franklin, Gadsden, and Liberty counties. Big Bend Coastal counties could also see storm surge between 2 to 4 feet.

With the warning, all eyes turns to local schools and whether they will close for a storm day. The Leon County School system said in a morning tweet it is monitoring the storm.

"Our team will participate in a Leon County Emergency Management Call later this morning," The school district tweeted. "We will receive updates on Tropical System Nicole. We anticipate making an announcement about school operations for tomorrow around 3 p.m. this afternoon."

This is a developing story. Stay tuned to this story for updates.

Reach Editor William Hatfield at whatfield@tallahassee.com.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Live Nicole updates: Tallahassee, Leon Co. to see storm effects Thursday