Storm watches posted for Florida as system moves into Gulf

By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tropical storm watches were posted Thursday for Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas as the system that battered Mexico moves to the east. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm once known as Agatha in the Pacific Ocean will be known as Alex in the Atlantic Ocean basin. In Florida, the tropical storm watch extends from Longboat Key on the Gulf Coast across the southern Florida peninsula, including Lake Okeechobee and the Florida Keys. The U.S. National Weather Service says the Cuban government has issued a tropical storm watch for the provinces of Matanzas, Mayabeque, La Habana, Artemisa, Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Youth. The watch area also included the northwestern Bahamas.