As of 5 a.m. EDT Friday, Hermine was weakening as it moved into southern Georgia, the Hurricane Center said. The forecaster said any shift in the storm’s forecast track could mean it would hit land.
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Thousands of miles away, in the central Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Madeline churned toward the Big Island on Tuesday with winds of 120 mph. The rain could trigger flash flooding.
The coast from Wilmington toward the SC border could see several inches of rain Friday and Friday night, forecasters in the weather service’s Morehead City office said. Hurricane conditions are possible over portions of the hurricane watch area beginning Thursday afternoon. Lake could also see gusts of 35 to 45 miles per hour Thursday afternoon, and there is a chance of tornadoes, although Ulrich said that is unlikely.
Scott, who declared an emergency in 51 counties, said 6,000 National Guardsmen were poised to mobilize for the storm’s aftermath.
Tropical Depression Nine has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Hermine according to the National Weather Service.
The tropical storm warning covers an area from Anclote River to the Walton County-Bay County line.
Tropical Storm Watch in effect for: Marineland, Fla.to Altamaha Sound Ga.
Three separate tropical systems are menacing western Florida, the Outer Banks and Hawaii this week.
The storm is now idling in the Gulf of Mexico, but it won’t sit still for long.
“Tomorrow night is going to be a significant issue since it is going to pass through North/Central Florida”, he said. “This state knows what to do”.
“We already moved about 40 of them as fast as we could”, he said.
By late Friday morning, more than 107,000 customers were left without power across Georgia, utility companies reported. The system could then lash coastal areas as far north as CT and Rhode Island through Labor Day.
Early forecasts had indicated the system could drench the state with up to 5 inches of rain before it curved out to sea.
The GPM core observatory satellite scanned the tropical depression on August 31, 2016, at 2:46 a.m. EDT and saw heavy rainfall occurring northwest of Cuba.
Heavy rain caused some local street flooding in South Florida on Tuesday, and more is forecast for Wednesday.
Some areas could see up to 15 inches of rain.
“We are still expecting Tropical Depression Nine to become a tropical storm, but now because of the wind shear it is facing it has not yet been upgraded”, said Meteorologist Julie Phillips, with WAVY sister station WFLA.
Residents on some islands and other low-lying, flood-prone areas in Florida were urged to clear out.
The National Hurricane has also issued storm surge flooding maps for the first time this year. It’s expected to later curve northeastward.
Update: Tropical Storm Hermine has formed and New York City is near its projected path. There is a danger of life-threatening inundation within the next 36 to 48 hours along the Gulf coast of Florida from Aripeka to Indian Pass.
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In North Carolina, Jennifer Scarborough is the manager of a marina in Hatteras.
