Tropical Storm Ophelia became Hurricane Ophelia at Thursday afternoon as it continued to churn less than 100 miles off the central Florida coast and batter East Coast beaches.

"One of the rules about storms: When they're stationary over warm water, they grow," Channel 4's chief meteorologist George Winterling said Thursday at 5 p.m. on the local station. "Ophelia has increased from 50 to 75 mph today."

But the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center did bring some good news -- at least in the short term: The storm is forecast to begin moving to the northeast on Friday.

"The latest forecast track shows the storm taking more of a eastward turn, pushing it away from our region," Channel 4 meteorologist Jason Kadah said. "Not to suggest that we let our guard down, by any means. The storm is still too close for comfort, and any jog to the left could result in Ophelia sitting right off the Jacksonville coast."

Ophelia stalled Wednesday morning about 75 miles east-northeast of Cape Canaveral -- about 170 miles southeast of Jacksonville -- and forecasters said there were no clear steering currents to give them much certainty about the path the storm would take.

Kadah said that dryer air was coming into the area Thursday, which should actually keep most of the rainfall to the south of the greater Jacksonville area.

But Kadah warned that the longer-term forcast shows signs that the storm may loop back toward the United States and could again threaten the coast. It is too early to say whether that threat would be to north Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas or even farther north.

Ophelia is the 15th named storm of the season. At 11 p.m. Thursday, it had top sustained winds of 75 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane.

A tropical storm watch was in effect from Flagler Beach to Fernandina Beach. A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the next 36 hours.

A tropical storm warning, meaning winds exceeding 39 mph are possible within 24 hours, was posted for Florida's east coast from Cocoa Beach to Flagler Beach.

While rainfall estimates for greater Jacksonville have been scaled back, the area could receive up to 3 more inches of rain, and beach erosion is likely to be significant as rough seas from Ophelia could last for several more days.

Florida's northeast coast, spared heavy damage by the six hurricanes that have hit Florida in the last 13 months, was bracing for Ophelia's approach.

This year, Hurricane Dennis hit the Panhandle in July and Hurricane Katrina hit South Florida last month, killing 11 people before devastating New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast four days later.

At a Jacksonville Beach hotel, general manager Eric Fort anxiously checked storm forecasts on the Internet, secured patio furniture and stocked up on water and canned goods.

"We are as ready as we can be," he said Wednesday. "People are concerned. All it takes is a look at New Orleans to understand the strength of Mother Nature."

Two shelters were scheduled to open Thursday in Volusia County, which suffered damage in three of last year's hurricanes.

"We're just opening them in an extreme abundance of caution," county spokesman Dave Byron.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Hurricane Nate was expected Thursday to gradually pull away from Bermuda, while a renewed Hurricane Maria was moving over the colder waters of the north Atlantic with 75 mph winds.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, Nate had top sustained winds of 85 mph. It was centered about 170 miles east of Bermuda, where forecasters said it could drop up to 3 inches of rain, with battering waves and storm surges up to 4 feet.

It was moving northeast at 16 mph, and was not expected to threaten the United States, forecasters said.