Tropical Storm Eta dumps blustery rain on Florida west coast

Tropical Storm Eta dumped torrents of blustery rain on Florida's west coast as it marched over the Gulf of Mexico toward an expected landfall north of the heavily populated Tampa Bay area. The National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted Eta would slog ashore sometime Thursday and then move northeast across Florida as it loses strength. Eta briefly gained hurricane strength Wednesday morning, but forecasters said it later weakened to tropical storm status with maximum winds of 70 mph (110 kph).