Tropical Depression Debby Still Causing Trouble



{Debby drowns Flroida}



{Debby dumps 5.02 inches of rain on Florida}

As we are all well aware, Tropical Storm Debby has been on quite the rampage, with the storm bringing over thirty inches of rain into the Florida panhandle and the northern portions of the state. Debby still continues to pack 40mph winds, with the surface winds sustaining 30mph. Late this Tuesday afternoon, Debby had made landfall near Steinhatchee, Florida. That evening, Debby was downgraded to a Tropical depression. The downgrading of the tropical system may be contributed to the storm wrapping dry air up into its center. Despite this lack of upper level moisture, Debby still continues to send a deluge upon northern Florida. Today, the tropical depression dumped just over five inches of rain in north eastern Florida, thus creating a massive six foot wide and twelve to fifteen foot deep sinkhole in a portion of I-10. 

{Along with the sinkhole opening up on I-10,
this one tried to swallow
up several moving vans in a parking lot}

With the five inches of rain dropped onto northern Florida today, the city streets filled with the rain waters. This occurred because the rainfall was so rapid that the sewer systems could not retain the water, thus causing the excess precipitation to gather on the streets. Just today, the National weather Service based in Tallahassee, Florida issued a total of eleven flashflood warnings. Luckily, Debby was headed eastbound. As of now, Debby was about 83 miles west of Cedar Key, Florida, moving at a snail’s pace of 6 mph (Info courtesy of the National Hurricane Center). As for tomorrow the HPC (Hydrometeorological Prediction Center) forecasted that Debby will continue to dump near 5 inches of rain near its center.


{Day 2 outlooks from the HPC & NOAA}

As Debby begins to veer offshore, it is forecasted to strengthen to about 50 miles per hour. Given the erratic path of Debby, the forecast models have not been able to accurately nail Debby’s path. Remember when it was a tropical low that was forecasted to hit the Florida panhandle and travel west into Texas? Well, now that Debby has made a clear cut across Florida and is headed north east (at 6pmh as of 8:00pm EDT), what’s to say that it won’t continue its path then head towards New England? With the unpredictability of Debby’s path, anything may be possible. However, now that the tropical depression is heading off into the Atlantic, her path may be easier to define.