Maximum sustained winds for the storm were measured at 50 miles per hour, with a gust of 60 miles per hour reported in some places.
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The storm still had winds of 50 mph and could get a bit stronger over the next 24 hours.
More rain across Central Florida is expected from Colin today, but Miami National Weather Service forecasters said the Colin’s trailing storms stretch back into Cuba and the northwest Caribbean.
All tropical storm warnings have been discontinued.
“We are going to have some impact from the storm, but it is not going to be significant”, Devitt said.
The Hurricane Center said Colin marked the earliest that a third named storm has ever formed in the Atlantic basic.
With one to five inches of additional rain expected to douse central Florida into Tuesday evening, some Tampa Bay area municipalities continued to supply sandbags to residents.
Florida Governor Rick Scott, who had declared a state of emergency on Monday in 34 of the state’s 67 counties, said more than 6,000 Florida National Guard members were activated and ready for deployment. The panhandle is likely to be spared, but much of the peninsula could be soaked by several inches of rain over a two-day period starting Monday.
Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Colin hit north Florida and southern Georgia on Monday, knocking out power in some areas and flooding roads on the Gulf coast.
Tuesday, morning clouds giving way to mostly sunny skies by noon, warmer, highs in the lower 90s.
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. The center of Colin was just off-shore near the border of North and SC.
A portion of historic St. Pete High School was closed off to students on their last day of school after part of the building flooded.
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Afternoon rain is also forecast to be more widespread than Monday. “Maybe we just should have stayed there”. They also described Colin as a lopsided storm, with tropical storm-force winds extending up to 185 miles east of its center. The storm dumped as much as 10 inches of rain on Florida communities around Tampa, Tallahassee and Gainesville, according to the National Weather Service. Roads in some areas were completely underwater and had to be closed off to traffic.
