CENTER OF HURRICANE SALLY TO CROSS THE COAST EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING… The National Hurricane Center now indicates that Hurricane Sally is moving just a bit to the east of due north. This means that the landfall point will almost certainly be somewhere along the coast between Gulf Shores, Alabama and Navarre, Florida. Landfall is set to happen some time on Wednesday morning, most likely between 4AM and 10AM. Impacts will continue across the local area overnight into Wednesday. We are particularly concerned about the ongoing heavy rain and flash flooding in coastal areas closer to the immediate coast of Alabama and far western sections of northwest Florida. Radar estimates and ground truth observations indicate 7-9 inches of rain have already fallen over the last 12 hours. Isolated higher rain amounts of 10-11 inches of rain, according to radar data, may have happened in sparsely-populated areas near Fort Morgan. A few more 10:30PM notes are below…
10PM ADVISORY – HURRICANE SALLY… Maximum winds remain at 85 mph. Minimum central pressure is down to 972 millibars. Sally is moving north-northeast at 2 mph. Forward speed will gradually pick up most likely later today when Sally is on land.
BALDWIN COUNTY BRIDGE CLOSED… This involves a major traffic artery in southern Baldwin County between Foley and Gulf Shores. From @BaldwinEMA on Twitter: “Gulf Shores has announced the Hwy. 59 bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway is closed due to excessive winds and dangerous weather conditions – confirmed sustained wind speeds in excess of 63 mph and gusts up to 80 mph with NWS Mobile.”
FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS… If you’re in a coastal county, odds are you’re involved in an ongoing Flash Flood Warning. Simply put, please don’t get out and drive overnight unless you absolutely have to. This is a dangerous flash flooding setup that is ongoing going to get worse.
NEXT LIVE UPDATE… I’ll be live at midnight with the very latest on Hurricane Sally. Join me on Facebook Live for the very latest. More rolling updates in the hours ahead in the RedZone Weather app!