Tropical Storm Hermine Closes Skyway Bridge

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Tampa Bay area motorists who use the Skyway Bridge to get around will need to found different routes Thursday afternoon.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the Skyway closed to traffic at 12:45 p.m. due to high winds. The patrol reports winds on the bridge are averaging 46 mph with gusts up to 56 mph.

Motorists can check with 511 or FPH’s online crash and roadway reporting site for updates. The site’s address is: http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/traffic/crs_h501.htm.

It is unclear how long the bridge will remain off limits to traffic. Tropical Storm Hermine was located about 220 miles west of Tampa at 11 a.m. Thursday. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and was moving on a north-northeast track at 14 mph.

See also: Tropical Storm Hermine Speeds Up On Way to Florida, Could Become Hurricane

As of Thursday morning, hurricane center forecasters anticipated Tropical Storm Hermine would gain hurricane strength before making landfall somewhere in Florida's Big Bend area late Thursday or early Friday.

Tropical storm force winds are extending outward from the storm up to 140 miles to the east and southeast of the center, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say.

On its present track, Tropical Storm Hermine is expected to cut across northern Florida Friday before heading toward Georgia and South Carolina.

Image from the Florida Department of Transportation Facebook page