Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in all 67 Florida counties Saturday as Subtropical Storm Alberto moved north through the Gulf of Mexico.
Only the western tip of Florida's Panhandle was in the projected path of the storm but the governor urged all Florida residents to be prepared for severe weather.
"The track of these storms can change without notice," Scott said. "Do not think that only areas in the cone will be impacted. Everyone in our state must be prepared."
The state of emergency also ensures that state and local governments have plenty of time, resources, and flexibility to prepare for the storm.
Heavy rain, wind gusts, strong rip currents, possible flash flooding and perhaps even tornadoes are forecast across South Florida over the Memorial Day weekend.
A flood watch was in effect for all of South Florida until 8 p.m. Sunday.
Although the east side of the storm isn't expected to reach Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach counties, the storm's outer bands were expected to bring the area heavy rain and gusts of more than 40 mph, the National Weather Service in Miami said.
Such winds typically would break only small tree branches, said Robert Molleda of the Weather Service. But with the ground already saturated by previous rains, he said it's possible that trees could be uprooted and fall on power lines, causing outages.
The tornado risk fell mainly on a region from southern Palm Beach County south through the end of the peninsula.
