What was supposed to be nothing but a rain maker, tropical storm Alberto, has gained quite a bit of strength recently.

Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday as the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season quickly gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico.

The warning from Longboat Key near Sarasota to the Ochlockonee River south of Tallahassee means Tropical Storm Alberto was expected to produce hurricane conditions within the next 24 hours.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Longboat Key to Englewood.

At 11 a.m., Alberto’s winds had increased to 70 mph, up from 50 mph just three hours earlier. The storm was centered about 190 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola and was moving north-northeast at about 7 mph, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.

It is projected to go (just) north of my location. This storm could cause more problems than originally thought.

For more coverage, The Florida Masochist is keeping track of Florida bloggers who are posting on the storm. I’ll update this when I can (as long as the power stays on).

In the mean time, USA – Czech Republic World Cup Soccer starts in about 30 minutes.