Tropical Storm Colin has made landfall in Florida, dousing much of the state with heavy rains, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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The National Weather Service dropped a tropical storm warning for northern Georgia, South Carolina and the southeastern coast of North Carolina at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The forecast calls for Colin to produce additional rainfall of up to 2 inches in eastern North Carolina, and as much as 5 inches of rain across central Florida through Tuesday evening.
An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft reported that Colin was maintaining winds of 50 miles per hour with higher gusts. So far, there had been no major flooding.
With the new drainage systems in place, town officials aren’t really sure where to expect the most flooding, but they definitely expect some intersections to be problem areas, if they get the rain they’re expecting.
While the water on the roads is receding, some road closures are still being reported in downtown Charleston.
Five-day rain totals could reach four inches in North Palm Beach County with the potential of street flooding in areas with poor drainage and where showers concentrate for long periods.
Although tropical storm warnings had been discontinued, flood watches remained in effect for 24 of Florida’s 67 counties, the governor’s office said in a statement.
And “localized coastal flooding and unsafe surf are possible along the Atlantic coast from Florida to North Carolina within the tropical storm warning area”, the NHC warned.
Nelson said all of Marion and Alachua counties could see increase rain by late afternoon through just after midnight.
“This is a very quick-moving storm system, and a lot of the energy and a lot of the damage associated with it is going to be displaced off to the east”, CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri said. Colin will then weaken Wednesday and move into the open Atlantic. The tropical system is continuing to gain speed throughout Tuesday and is forecast to run parallel to, but about 45 miles away from, the United States coast.
Colin was redesignated a post-tropical cyclone by the National Hurricane Center as it picked up speed off North Carolina late Tuesday morning.
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The Hurricane Center said Colin marked the earliest that a third named storm has ever formed in the Atlantic basic. Winds from Colin also closed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa.
