Alberto: 70 mph Winds, Tornadoes

At 10:30 a.m. this morning the government changed Tropical Storm Alberto's published wind speed to 70 mph after an air-force recon plane found higher winds than it had previously.

The potential for spin-off tornadoes from Alberto should not be underestimated. Any time a hurricane or tropical storm nears land, tornadoes are a possibility. A Tornado Watch is in effect for much of Florida today.

Already this morning, 7 Tornado Warnings have also gone out from the NWS office in Tampa, Florida, for thunderstorms in the eastern bands of the storm. At 8:09 a.m. this morning, a storm spotter reported a tornado just east of the Bartow, Florida airport.

The image below from AccuWeather.com RadarPlus, from 8:00, shows the high winds offshore and the Tornado Warning which spawned the spotter-observed tornado.