Nicole made landfall along the east coast of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday just south of Vero Beach. The system has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.

The storm – which officially came ashore at 3 a.m. –  is packing maximum sustained winds of 70 mph.

"Nicole's center will move across Central Florida this morning, possibly emerge over the far northeastern Gulf of Mexico this afternoon, and then moving across the Florida Panhandle and Georgia tonight and on Friday," the National Hurricane Center said. Additional weakening is forecast while Nicole moves over land during the next day or two, and the storm is likely to become a tropical depression over Georgia tonight or early Friday.