The hurricane center said that Julia’s tropical storm force winds extended about 115 miles out from the center, mainly over water to the northeast of the center.
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News 4 Chief Meteorologist John Cessarich says that since this storm is actually centered west of Jacksonville, the strongest winds will be over the Atlantic ocean.
“Julia packed a punch last night”, said Whit Chapman, a St. Simons Island Resident. Areas at greatest risk for flash flooding will be across the areas hit hard by Hurricane Hermine during early September.
Latest satellite loop of Tropical Storm Julia. Heavy rain and high tides threatened low-lying coastal areas prone to flooding, such as parts of Charleston, South Carolina, forecasters said. “When that happens, it can intensify, and it did in this case, becoming a tropical storm”. Several inches of rain will fall in coastal South and North Carolina as Julia is expected to move very little over the next couple of days.
At Tybee Island Maritime Academy on Georgia’s Tybee Island near Savannah, principal Patrick Rossiter said he was keeping close tabs on the latest storm reports and radar Wednesday.
The storm system continues to drop rain along the SC coast.
Far northeast Florida and southern North Carolina are forecast to get 1 to 2 inches of rain.
North of the state, Julia’s maximum sustained wind speeds were pegged at 40 miles per hour, just above the threshold for a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Ian in the central Atlantic Ocean is moving north, but now poses no threat to land, the NHC said.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour, the storm is expected to move faster toward the west and gradually weaken into a tropical storm late Wednesday night or Thursday.
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Julia is expected to slowly weaken into Friday as it continues inland across the Southeast.
