Tropical Storm Andrea Bears down on Florida

8:30 A.M. Thursday June 6, 2013: The first Tropical Storm of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season is “Tropical Storm Andrea” which quickly developed in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.   Andrea is forecast to bring heavy rain, flooding, and a strong potential of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes for Florida up through southeastern seaboard over the next couple days. As of 8:30 a.m. ET, Tropical Storm Andrea had winds of 60 mph and was moving north-northeast at 15mph.  Center of the storm was located approximately 150 miles west of Tampa Florida.  The forecast is for Andrea is to make landfall near Tampa Thursday afternoon bringing with it 2-4 inches of rain over much of the Florida Peninsula, tropical storm force winds near 60 MPH, and 1-2 ft storm surge Tampa bay south and up to 5 ft storm surge Tampa Bay northward to Apalachicola. Monitor iAlert.com Real-time Alert Map for the latest warnings on Tropical Storm Andrea.