FLORENCE BASHING NORTH CAROLINA; ISAAC WEAKER… Hurricane Florence is bringing hurricane force winds to parts of the North Carolina coast this evening near Cape Fear. We’re also keeping an eye on a weaker Tropical Storm Isaac that is expected to become a tropical depression over the next 24 hours. Great news! Locally, a few thunderstorms have popped up this evening. Let’s have a quick check of the headlines on this Thursday evening…
SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS FROM FLORENCE… Some spots along the North Carolina coast could pick up 20-25″ of rain over the next 2 days as Hurricane Florence continues to move by. The problem is that Florence is barely moving – at all. The forward speed of Hurricane Florence has slowed to 4-5 mph this evening, meaning the system will sit, spin, and dump massive rain amounts that will likely lead to flash flooding. Isolated tornadoes and strong winds up to hurricane force have been reported in North Carolina this evening.
FORECAST FOR HURRICANE FLORENCE… Now that the center of Hurricane Florence is barely moving, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when landfall will happen. Most likely, the center of the system will cross the North Carolina coast on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, Florence will “camp out” over North Carolina and South Carolina through Sunday before moving away to the north early next week. Again, a huge rain/flood problem in the days ahead for parts of the Carolinas!
ISAAC CONTINUES TO WEAKEN… Tropical Storm Isaac is barely hanging on to life this evening! The National Hurricane Center suggests that the system will become a tropical depression or completely dissipate in the next few days. We will continue to have to watch Isaac, whether it be as a tropical depression or open tropical wave (low pressure remnants) as there is a chance the system may move into the western Caribbean Sea and restrengthen before moving into the Gulf of Mexico. Still way too early to know whether impacts will be possible in the U.S. We’ll keep you posted.
HELENE & JOYCE IN EASTERN ATLANTIC… Helene is now a tropical storm, having weakened from being a category 2 hurricane earlier this week. We note that Tropical Storm Helene will likely pass over the Azores Islands near Europe this weekend. Tropical storm watches are in effect for the Azores. Joyce is a subtropical storm also in the far eastern Atlantic. The system is expected to completely dissipate in about 3 days.
FEW STORMS THIS EVENING… Several showers and thunderstorms have popped up across south Alabama and northwest Florida on this Thursday evening. Heavy rain has happened over the last hour in places like Appleton, Jackson, Gainestown, and Choctaw Bluff. Storms will fade overnight.
FRIDAY FORECAST… We’ll call it a 20% chance of rain on Friday across the region, as most spots will be dry. There may be an isolated thunderstorm or two, but I expect those to be few and far between. Partly cloudy skies are likely with high temperatures near 93°.