The latest projected path for Ernesto keeps the system as a tropical storm as it moves through Florida Tuesday night, bringing 50 mph winds to Central Florida on Wednesday, according to Local 6 meteorologist Tom Sorrells.

"The good news is that they keep it as a tropical storm during its entire life, rolling through Florida and then perhaps becoming a hurricane when it gets back out into the water," Sorrells said.

Ernesto was expected to make landfall just west of Miami late Tuesday. The storm should then continue on a north track over Central Florida with 50 mph winds on Wednesday.

"It is still looking like a 12-hour window on Wednesday," Sorrells said. "If it waits this late, then chances are early Wednesday will be no big deal in Central Florida. But late in the day Wednesday is when the most significant wind and rain will begin to arrive."

At 11 p.m., Ernesto was just shy of Cuba's northern coast.

"The fact that the eye (of the storm) is staying on shore down there kind of throws everything out," Sorrells said. "The longer this eye stays on land, the tougher time the models are going to have with this."

Ernesto was a minimal tropical storm Monday night.

The new path also shows winds associated with Ernesto are expected to be less than originally expected when the system reaches Central Florida.

Gov. Bush: Don't Underestimate Ernesto

Gov. Jeb Bush warned Floridians to take a potential Category 1 hurricane slamming into the state this week seriously and that the state is preparing for a Category 2 storm during a hurricane briefing Monday.

"Hurricanes are hurricanes," Bush said. "We start thinking, 'Well a Category 3 storm -- boy that is bad and I better take this seriously and anything below that, not that important.' That is the wrong attitude. We have been hit by so many hurricanes that I think people start thinking they have the capability of underwriting the risks based on whether the storm is a Category 1, Category 2 or Category 3.

Bush reminded the state that Category 1 Katrina caused problems for the state last year.

"Katrina hit Florida before it hit the Gulf Coast," Bush said. "It was a Category 1 storm -- people died because they were out in the midst of the storm thinking it wasn't a potent storm. It created a lot of hardship for residents of South Florida just as other storms that had been Category 1 had done. We are planning for a Category 2 storm."

Watches, Warnings Issued

About 400 miles of coast were under the watch from New Smyrna Beach southward on the east coast and from Chokoloskee southward on the west coast.

A state of emergency was in effect for all Florida, because forecasters said Ernesto could potentially threaten a large swath of the state by late in the week.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 40 mph -- down from from 50 mph earlier Monday as Ernesto interacted with land. However, restrengthening is expected when the center moves over the warm Gulf Stream waters to the north of Cuba.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.