Colin dissipated off coastal North Carolina on Tuesday after blasting torrential rains and winds across a broad swath of the U.S. Southeast, with Florida receiving the brunt of the impact from the tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center said.
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Tropical Storm Colin moved out to sea early Tuesday after knocking out power to thousands, prompting Florida Governor Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency.
According to the latest update from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, which was published at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) today, Colin is moving northeast at about 40 miles per hour (65 km/h), with maximum sustained winds near 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).
Colin is expected to produce three to six inches of rain across western to northern Florida, southeast Georgia and coastal areas of the Carolinas through Tuesday.
The storm dropped more than a half-a-foot of rain across parts of Florida, and it’s still dropping some heavy rain along the North Carolina coast today.
Duke Energy also had outages reported in Pinellas and Pasco counties with heavier concentrations in St. Petersburg and the Clearwater area.
Colin was the earliest third Atlantic storm on record.
But forecasters said this morning that the heavy downpours they expected to see from Colin’s tail all week are no longer so certain.
People check out the waves from Tropical Storm Colin on June 6, 2016 in Venice, Florida. But if fewer than two named storms form in the same time period, 6.3 hurricanes develop – a negligible difference, he said.
On the Georgia coast, Savannah and surrounding Chatham County were under a tropical storm watch as Colin was expected to pass the area before dawn Tuesday.
Flash floods pose the greatest threat, with the worst of the storm scheduled to come on late Tuesday, flooding could cause severe trouble for residents when local waterways already filled with rain are combined with the high tide.
“We anticipate conditions to improve over the day”, he said.
Through Alert Marion, citizens can receive the most up-to-date information and warnings on severe storms, tornadoes and other life endangering natural events that may occur in Marion County, according to a release by Lauren Lettelier, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.
A Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect for Surf City to Oregon Inlet, North Carolina.
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No rain was reported early Tuesday across the state, although earlier rain has brought the usual street flooding in downtown Charleston.
