Tropical Storm Debby Begind to "Refill", Still Poses Serious Flood Threat

The core of tropical storm Debby collasped as it moved over land yesteday, and a large pool of dry air circulated into the storm as well. That combination cut off a large part of the moisture feed into South Carolina yesterday afternoon and last night, holding down rain amounts. The center of Debby moved back over water last night though, and today Debby is beginning to to "refill" the dry hole that emerged yesterday and the storm's structure is starting to rebuild. You can see the process underway in the current satellite loop. Maximum winds with the 11 am advisory are increased to 60 mph.

The rebuilding structure of the storm and the projected track still puts the Carolinas in line for very heavy rain bands and a high risk of flash flooding. Some of the highest amounts being projected by computer models are in the Pee Dee and along the NC/SC state line. That makes sense to me so long as the storm continues to recover and rebuild. Here is the latest NHC storm track and a computer model projection of what the radar will look like at 9 pm this evening.

WIth this forecast, the NOAA idea of an 5-10 inches of rain from Debby across the Pee Dee makes sense. This much rain on top of already saturated ground will result in a high risk of flash flooding. Stay alert for local warings tonight and tomorrow. Do not ever try to drive through flooded roads, and follow any directions from Emergency Management.

As the storm center draws closer and moves through tonight and tomorrow we will have increasingly gusty winds. Most gusts will be in the 30 to 35 mph range, and a few gusts into the 40s are possible. That could be enough to knock down a few trees and cause some scattered power outages. This does not look like a situation where huge numbers of people are without power for a long time.