Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN) Storm Center | By Irene Sans
Saturday update: the storm is now Tropical Storm Debby
The National Hurricane Center has started to issue watches specifically for parts of Florida through the West Florida coast this Friday morning. Potential Tropical Cyclone 4 officially was labeled at 11:00 AM on Friday. The label of Potential Tropical Cyclone, or PTC, allows the National Hurricane Center to issue warnings and watches. This is done to systems that are not well organized but close enough to land to cause problems soon.
Governor Ron DeSantis issued a State of Emergency for 54 counties in Florida.
This system continues to be very disorganized it is traveling over Cuba today through the early morning hours on Saturday. Once this system emerges over the Florida Straits, it’s expected to become better organized and have a well-defined circulation center. By Saturday evening, the National Hurricane Center expects this system to officially be tropical storm status, officially becoming Debby.
What can Florida expect?
It’s going to be a washout weekend for much of Florida. The threat of flash floods will be high throughout the weekend. Heavy rain bands will be coming onto South Florida late Friday night and these will be traveling to the north, affecting Central and North Florida on Saturday. South Florida will continue to deal with heavy periods of showers and thunderstorms on Saturday.
The worst day of the weekend, generally speaking for the state, will be Sunday. As the system approaches the central west coast, there will be more intense thunderstorm activity over areas that would have received several rounds of showers on Saturday, therefore the ground would be already well saturated, and flooding would become more of a threat.
How much rainfall?
Much of the west coast of Florida could expect around 10 inches of rain to accumulate through next Wednesday. This will cause serious problems, especially for those who do not take the correct precautions now. If you are in a flood-prone area, you will most likely deal with flooding.
For South Florida rainfall totals through next Wednesday will range between 1 and 4 inches but some isolated spots could receive higher amounts. For Central and North Florida, expect up to 8 inches of rain during the same time frame with higher isolated amounts. Similar amounts through Tallahassee, and the western panhandle will be the area with the least amount of rain, up to 2 inches for some spots.
Other hazards
This will not be a big wind event for Florida, nonetheless, keep in mind that within the rainbands there could be some embedded thunderstorms that could produce gusty winds and knock down tree limbs and weak powerlines. The seas will be dangerous, with high surf and a high risk of rip currents.
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