Caribbean Islands to start experiencing effects from Ian by Monday
Caribbean islands such as Jamaica and Grand Cayman will start to experience the effects from the outer bands of Tropical Storm Ian within the next 24 hours, forecasts show. The islands will experience conditions such as heavy rain, possible flash flooding and storm surge.
The storm system will begin to rapidly intensify overnight into Monday before it closes in on western Cuba on Monday night.
As of 2 p.m., the sustained winds in the tropical storm remained at 50 mph as it moved west-northwest at 12 mph, the center about 265 miles away from Grand Cayman.
![](https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/cb9bea41-b51e-4200-a206-a756dd9c67f8/blog-hurricane-ian-map-11am-graphic-path-closer-03-abc-llr-220925_1664120948223_hpEmbed_16x9.jpg)
Hurricane warnings are in effect for Grand Cayman and western Cuba, while tropical storm warnings and watches are in effect in other portions of both islands.
As a hurricane, Ian is expected to peak at a Category 4 before weakening slightly as it looks to make landfall on the west coast or panhandle of Florida in the coming days.
![PHOTO: A "spaghetti model" weather graphic shows the wide range of possibilities for Tropical storm Ian’s track as it develops into a hurricane in an ABC News graphic released at 11am on Sept. 25, 2022.](https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/5aa14cd2-ebef-42bf-90ea-b6ff245cf1c0/blog-hurricane-ian-map-11am-graphic-spaghetti-path-closer-05-abc-llr-220925_1664120948226_hpEmbed_16x9.jpg)
There is still some uncertainty to the track Ian will take once the system enters the Gulf of Mexico.
The center of the storm and the worst of the impacts could end up heading toward the western coast of Florida's peninsula, including the Tampa area. The other possible scenario has the storm moving more due north and bringing a possible landfall along the Florida peninsula, impacting cities like Panama City and Tallahassee with more direct effects.
The storm will begin to impact the Florida keys and the southern portions of the state by Tuesday night.
-ABC News' Dan Peck