Tropical Storm Colin Expected To Hit Northwest Florida Monday

The National Hurricane Center has posted a tropical storm watch for the entire SC coast as Tropical Storm Colin spins in the Gulf of Mexico.

So, with the Tropical Storm Colin expected to move more rapidly, no major concerns are expected for Tallahassee and inland areas of North Florida and South Georgia.

Carolina Beach officials are working today to ensure the town’s lake will not overflow onto roadways during Tropical Storm Colin as it did during a similar event in October.

A strengthening tropical depression was bearing down on Florida and the southeastern USA on Monday, with forecasters warning of strong winds and the potential for serious flooding from heavy rains.

The National Weather Service had warned of a storm surge reaching four feet, which combined with a 12:44 p.m. high tide on Longboat, contributed to the flooding in Longbeach Village. Isolated tornadoes are possible Monday afternoon in some parts of Florida and southern Georgia, the hurricane center said.

Some Tampa Bay area high school seniors will have to wait a little longer to receive their high school diplomas, thanks to Tropical Storm Colin.

Heavy rain is expected, and many coastal communities are providing sandbags for residents in low-lying areas prone to flooding.

For South Florida the weather pattern is a bit more complicated, according to CBS4 chief meteorologist Craig Setzer.

“It’s packing maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and moving north-northeast at 17 miles per hour”. At 2 a.m. EDT, it was about 410 miles southwest of Tampa, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and moving north at about 10 mph.

“The bulk of storm is not going to occur until early, early in the morning when people are asleep anyway”, Jones said. No watches or warnings were in effect in South Florida for Colin.

“We’re taking chain saws home so we can cut our way out of our neighborhoods and cut our way back into work tomorrow”, Gude said.

Colin is also the earliest third tropical storm of a season on record.

Dylan Fagan, who lives in Fleming Island, Florida, near Jacksonville, said the rain came out of nowhere and blew through really quickly.

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The reason for National Weather Service forecasters issuing this warning now is for residents to prepare for potentially heavy winds, along with projected rainfall amounts of 3-5 inches per hour in some areas, that could create flooding.