Tropical Storm Ian is expected to become a hurricane again later on Thursday before making landfall for the second time on Friday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has said in its latest advisory.
It also issued a hurricane warning for the entire coast of South Carolina.
Tropical Storm Ian is now about 25 miles (40km) north-east of Cape Canaveral, where Nasa launches rockets into space at the Kennedy Space Center.
Ian’s maximum sustained winds have picked up to about 70mph (110km/h) and it is expected to become a hurricane again by evening and make landfall as a hurricane on Friday, with rapid weakening forecast after landfall.
Florida’s gulf coast is no longer under a warning, but portions of east central and northeast Florida can expect up to 20 inches (51cm) of rainfall.
The NHC also notes that Ian is a large cyclone, with winds of tropical storm intensity extending more than 400 miles from its eye.