Major flood threat to develop this week as tropical storm stalls over southeast
A major flood threat will develop this week as a brewing tropical storm is expected to stall-out over the southeastern United States.
Forecasters expect Tropical Storm Debby to rapidly get its act together in the eastern Gulf of Mexico through the weekend, making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a strong tropical storm early Monday.
After landfall, the storm will slowly track into Georgia through Tuesday before emerging off the coast into the western Atlantic Ocean by late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
From there, though, this system isn’t going to go anywhere in a hurry.
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| SOURCE: Tropical Tidbits |
Two large ridges of high pressure will essentially pin the storm in place after landfall. One ridge over the western Atlantic and another over the south-central U.S. will act like barriers that the storm won’t easily squeeze through.
As a result, Debby will meander off the southeastern coast for several days before an opening allows the storm to finally begin pulling north later in the week.
A stalled tropical system dumping copious amounts of rain over the same areas is a story we’ve seen time and time again in recent years. This won’t be any exception. The Weather Prediction Center calls for a large swath of 5-10 inches of rain across northern Florida, eastern Georgia, and the eastern Carolinas. More than 10 inches of rain is possible along the storm’s path proper.
This much rain falling in a relatively short period of time is a recipe for flash flooding. Most deaths from landfalling tropical systems are the result of motorists drowning in flash floods. If you’re in the area, please don’t try to drive across a flooded roadway. It’s impossible to tell how deep the water is until it’s too late.
