Live Tracker: Nicole could grow into hurricane as tropical storm's path nears Florida

—National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) November 8, 2022

Tropical Storm Nicole is "likely" to become a hurricane by Wednesday and is currently on track to pummel the east coast of Florida, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

If and when it does, it will be the first hurricane to make landfall in the month of November since Hurricane Kate struck the state's panhandle in 1985.

As of 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the storm was about 250 miles from the northwestern Bahamas and 360 miles from West Palm Beach, Florida, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Nicole has sustained maximum winds at 65 mph with strong winds extending nearly 400 miles from the center, moving west-southwest at 10 mph.

"We're going to have a very large area of impact, but potentially higher-end impacts as we expect Nicole to intensify into a hurricane as it approaches the Bahamas and the east coast of Florida late Wednesday into Thursday," Michael Brennan, acting Deputy Director at NOAA's National Hurricane Center, said during a video update of the storm on Tuesday.

The NOAA forecasted that the center of the storm will approach the northwestern Bahamas Tuesday night, moving near or over the islands on Wednesday.

It is also expected to approach the east coast of Florida on Wednesday night or early Thursday before moving across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia on Thursday.