Storm Alberto maintains strength as it approaches Gulf Coast

Subtropical Storm Alberto headed toward anticipated landfall sometime yesterday on the northern Gulf Coast, where white sandy beaches emptied of their usual Memorial Day crowds.

And just as the long holiday weekend marked summer’s unofficial start in the U.S., Alberto gave it the unofficial start of what forecasters recently predicted would be an active hurricane season.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 11 a.m. EDT Monday that Alberto was maintaining its strength as it approached the Florida Panhandle and was centered about 80 kilometers south of Panama City, Florida. The storm that was expected to make landfall later Monday had maximum sustained winds of 95 kph and was moving north at 13 kph.

Forecasters warned of life-threatening surf conditions, the possibility of a few brief tornadoes in much of Florida and parts of Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.