A STORM FORMING off the state’s east coast has a 50-50 chance of becoming a tropical storm next week and is expected to bring rain and flooding to Central Florida this weekend.

A storm developing off Florida’s east coast with the potential to become a tropical storm next week is expected to bring rain and flooding to Central Florida this weekend.

“The entire weekend is going to be a washout,” said Jessie Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.

Showers and thunderstorms will start late Friday and continue for a week as the storm travels up the east coast.

Central Florida is projected to get 1 to 3 inches of rain during the next five days, Smith said. Every day through next Friday carries at least a 40 percent chance of rain, she said.

“It’s probably going to be a rain event and pretty poor boating conditions offshore with higher seas and gusty winds,” Smith said. Hazardous beach conditions also are expected, she added.

The storm has a 50 percent chance of turning into a tropical storm within five days, but she said it is not expected to become a hurricane. Forecasters say there’s no cause to worry about Hurricane Irma-like conditions that knocked out power for 6.7 million customers across the state.

Officials are still clearing debris left from Hurricane Irma, which made its first landfall in Florida Sept. 10, then traveled over the state through the morning of Sept. 11.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the 2017 hurricane season would be above normal, with 11 to 17 named storms, between five and nine hurricanes and two to four major hurricanes.

Already, activity has exceeded those predictions with five major hurricanes at Category 3 or higher: Harvey, which hit Texas in August; Irma, which hit the Caribbean and Florida; Jose, which didn’t make landfall; Maria, which pummeled the Caribbean and Puerto Rico; and Lee, which became a hurricane this week.

The official hurricane season lasts through Nov. 30.