Ophelia, Brewing Off Florida Coast, Not Seen as Big Threat

ropical Storm Ophelia strengthened off Florida's east coast early Wednesday, and while the slow-moving system could bring rain and high winds to Florida, it did not pose an immediate major threat to land or the Gulf region, news and weather reports said.

The center of the storm, with maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph, was about 80 miles east of Cape Canaveral, Fla., the National Hurricane Center said. NHC forecast some strengthening over the next 24 hours.

Ophelia was moving north-by-northwest at 7 mph, and the NHC expects that track, with a decrease in speed, to continue over the next 24 hours, Reuters reported.

Two other storms — Hurricane Maria, in the Central Atlantic, which was downgraded from a Hurricane, and Hurricane Nate, north of Bermuda — were on tracks moving them east and well away from the U.S. mainland, the NHC said.

Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30 but peaks in early to mid-September.