Tropical Storm Debby a Major Threat FL, GA, SC

Tropical Storm Debby is expected to be a major problem across the SE United States with flooding rains likely to be its biggest threat. In fact, the National Hurricane Center in their 11 am discussion on the the storm said ''Potentially historic heavy rainfall across southeast Georgia and South Carolina through Friday morning may result in areas of catastrophic flooding. Significant river flooding is also expected".

Right now Tropical Storm Debby is intensifying over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and is expected to be a hurricane when the center makes landfall Monday morning in the Big Bend area of Florida. At 11 am the center of Tropica Storm Debby was 160 miles SSW of Cedar Key, FL moving NNW at 13 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 65 mph. Once Debby makes landfall the storm is expected to turn to the northeast and its movement will slow as steering winds aloft relax. Here is the latest offical track forecast from the NHC.

Notice how long it is expected to take the center of Debby to get from the Florida Big Bend coastline to near Hilton Head, SC...two full days! Then another full day to get from near Hilton Head to Georgtown County, SC. The exact forecast points may shift in future forecasts, the the general idea of very slow movement across Georgia and SC is looking very likely. The result will be a prolonged period with bands of very heavy rain that will cause flooding. The flooding could be extreme where the highest amounts of rain fall, which could be over 20 inches. Here is the current total rain forecast from NOAA:

Please stay very aware of local forecasts and warnings and follow directions of Emergency Management. If you live in an area where flooding does occur, remember NEVER try to drive though flooded roads. Here is a broad brush picture of flash flood risks from the NHC for the next five days with Debby,

One question we don't know the answer to yet is if the center of Debby will emerge off the coast of GA and SC and spend anytime over Atlantic Ocean. If it did, that could allow Debby to regain strength. That will be a factor in how high winds are across SC, and how widespread power outages become.