Rita expected to buffet Florida with heavy rains, high winds.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Ken Kaye, Andrew Ryan and Ruth Morris

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Expected to intensify into a hurricane, Tropical Storm Rita threatened to barrel perilously close if not directly over Key West late Tuesday afternoon, possibly as a Category 2 system with 100-mph winds.

The storm, expected to be about 150 miles southeast of Key West at 8 a.m. Tuesday, could swamp the Lower Keys with up to 15 inches of rain and produce a 6- to 9-foot storm surge.

Miami-Dade County, still reeling from Hurricane Katrina last month, was bracing for 5 to 8 inches of rain and up to gusts up to 60 mph, while Broward and Palm Beach counties can expect 2-4 inches of rain and gusts up to 50 mph, the National Weather Service in Miami said.

Most of the state's southeast coast could see dangerous, battering waves, the National Hurricane Center in Miami-Dade County said.

"Most of the heavy weather will be here on Tuesday and be gone by Wednesday," said meteorologist Jim Lushine. "Finally, a daytime hurricane, not like Katrina that hid in the night."

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