Tropical Storm Debbie has been moving over land after making landfall in the Big Bend, Florida, area on Monday morning with winds of 128 km/h (80 mph), gradually weakening but still producing winds. potential catastrophic flooding.
As of 11 a.m. ET Tuesday, Debbie is a low-intensity tropical storm with 40 mph winds located off the Georgia coast about 15 miles south of Savannah, slowly moving toward the U.S. at 6 mph. Moving northeast.
Debbie Weather Forecast
The center of Debbie is moving over the water and is expected to be off the South Carolina coast until Thursday morning. Debbie will be over water at 28-29 degrees Celsius (82-84°F) and will have enough heat to gradually re-intensify. The NHC predicts winds will increase to 60 mph by Thursday when Debbie makes its second landfall. During this time, Debbie will slowly move forward, circling offshore at a forward speed of approximately 5 mph. This will allow the resurgent storm to bring catastrophic heavy rains to the South Carolina coast and much of southern North Carolina.
This historic flooding event will finally begin to recede on Friday and Saturday, when a trough of low pressure will move northeastward with Debbie. However, Debbie's flood threat will then expand to the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States: widespread rainfall is expected over the next five days, with rainfall amounts reaching 6-8 inches (Figure 1), resulting in severe flooding. A large portion of the rainfall totals are expected to occur Tuesday and are not directly related to Debbie: Moisture moving north of Debbie will collide with an east-west frontal system that could bring 3-6 inches in many locations of rainfall. A moderate risk warning for excess rainfall and flash flooding is in effect Tuesday for eastern Pennsylvania, much of New Jersey and southeastern New York, including New York City and Philadelphia. Tuesday's rain will only heighten the risk of additional flooding later in the week as Debbie eventually moves northeast.
At 4:27 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) put the coastal areas of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina at a “high risk” for heavy rain on Tuesday, discussing excess rainfall. Among them, it warned of “multiple severe to catastrophic flooding in rural and urban areas,” as well as rising streams, especially in eastern South Carolina. High-risk areas expected on Wednesday and Thursday include much of coastal South Carolina and parts of southeastern North Carolina. Only about 4% of days in the U.S. are classified as high-risk, but these areas account for about all flood deaths A third of the number of people and about 80% of flood-related losses. The three-day forecast warned that “multiple widespread flash floods are possible, with the potential for severe and potentially catastrophic flooding.” “
Florida's major rivers flood
South of Tampa Bay, which received up to 21 inches of rain on Sunday and Monday (see tweet above), the Manatee River peaked at 20.12 feet Tuesday morning, surpassing the previous record of 20.0 feet set on July 21, 1962. This phenomenon has also been observed in the nearby Little Manatee River. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting severe flooding on three North Florida rivers on Wednesday: the Suwannee, St. Mary's and Santa Fe rivers.
South Carolina sees up to a foot of rain
Measurements taken by South Carolina's CoCoRaHS rain gauge network during the 24 hours between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. ET Tuesday showed numerous reports of more than 10 inches of rain, with two rain stations near the southeast coast of Charleston reporting 10 inches. 12 -13 inches (see tweet below). An additional 8 to 20 inches of rain is expected along much of the South Carolina coast, jeopardizing the state's tropical cyclone rainfall record total of 23.63 inches from Hurricane Florence in 2018.
NOAA is currently forecasting severe river flooding later this week on three rivers in Georgia, one river in South Carolina and two rivers in North Carolina.
Tornadoes sweep across South Carolina coast
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Storm Prediction Center issued a “slight risk” (Level 2 of 5) risk rating for coastal South Carolina and southernmost parts of North Carolina on Tuesday, mainly due to storms Brief tornadoes may form in areas with favorable wind shear. Several tornadoes (and/or waterspouts that touched down ashore) were reported in South Carolina overnight, including one that destroyed numerous trees on Edisto Island and another that destroyed nearby Moncks Corner. trees.
This article was translated by Perla Marvell.
