4 p.m.: 26.7 N, 82.2 W

Had a brief squall of rain here, but nothing beyond the average Florida afternoon thunderstorm. It appears the bulk of the storm is headed up the swamp right now, through the largely uninhabited portion of Florida between I-75 and Lake Okeechobee.

So instead of ravaging cities you've heard of, like Tampa and St. Petersburg and Sarasota, it's hitting nowheresvilles such as Arcadia and Zolfo Springs and Fort Meade. The nearest city of any substance that faces any danger at all is Lakeland, and after Lakeland, it's going to wind up in the Orlando area. It remains to be seen how much it'll hold together by that point.

Because nobody thought this is where the hurricane was going, and because there's not much there to begin with, there's not really any news coming from the point at which the hurricane actually is. The camera crews all apparently got misdirected to Fort Myers and Port Charlotte, so there's not much to see yet.

Again, a turn to the north still brings the eastern Tampa Bay area into the danger zone, but it's looking less likely at present. Here at 27.9/82.2, it's a minor rainstorm. Wind calm, high 70s, a little bit of water on the ground.