TAMPA - The 11 a.m. advisory by the National Hurricane Center isn’t much different than the one issued at 5 a.m. today, but forecasters say Hurricane Ike appears to be following a path south of the one taken by Hurricane Hanna as it churns toward the Florida Keys.

And that could take it farther away from the Tampa Bay area, even though some models have it turning north nearer to West Central Florida.

Meteorologists say it appears Ike is tracking south of the cool waters churned up by Hanna and as it passes over warm water the storm could strengthen by tomorrow.

The Category 3 storm then is expected to move over or near the north coast of Cuba over the next 36 to 72 hours and that likely will weaken the storm.

“The degree of weakening will depend largely on how close Ike tracks to land,” the advisory said. By Tuesday, “Ike is forecast to emerge back over open waters in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico,” and that could mean a strengthening of the system.

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