A Hurricane Watch has been issued for the east coast of Florida from the Volusia/Brevard County Line to Hallandale Beach and for Lake Okeechobee. This includes Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne and Cape Canaveral. Also, the government of the Bahamas has changed the Tropical Storm Watch to a Hurricane Watch for the northwestern Bahamas. Nicole is now forecasted to become a category 1 storm prior to landfall.