Ernesto is expected to bring at least 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain as it moves quickly through Florida. Isolated areas may receive as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters).
Rainfall over Florida's heavily populated southeastern coast—which includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach—is expected to be heavy.
And the state's Gulf Coast is expected to see downpours of 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 centimeters).
Ernesto's eye is expected to pass near Lake Okeechobee, where engineers are concerned about the stability of a massive, 140-mile (225-kilometer) dike that protects the area from flooding. But the lake's water level is currently only about 12 feet (4 meters) above sea level, which is considered safe.
Ernesto's center is expected to head back into the Atlantic Ocean just north of Cape Canaveral late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Forecasters think it could make another landfall early Friday morning around Charleston, South Carolina.
"It's still looking like it's going to be a decent tropical storm at that point, and it will affect the Carolinas," Christensen said. "But it's not expected to be a hurricane."
Willie Drye is author of Storm of the Century: the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, published by National Geographic.
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