The National Hurricane Center, in its 10:00 a.m., advisory discontinued all hurricane warnings on the Florida coast. Highest sustained winds in Alberto are now down to 50 mph. He is about to make landfall and he will continue to weaken as he moves over land today. Here is some basic information:
10:00 A.M. LOCATION
The center was near latitude 29.8 N, longitude 83.8 W or about 50 miles SE of Tallahassee. The center is now just offshore from Keaton Beach. Alberto was moving NE at 9 mph and that should continue today. On this track, the center will move across North Florida and into Southern Georgia later this evening.
WARNINGS
No more hurricane warning, but a Tropical Storm Warning continues from Bayport northward and west to the Ochlockonee River. This, of course, is on the Florida Gulf Coast. All warnings south of Bayport have been discontinued. A Tropical Storm Warning remains from Bayport to Indian Pass.
FORECAST TRACK AND TORNADO WATCH
That has not changed. The center should continue across SE Georgia and SE South Carolina passing west of Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston and Myrtle Beach, then across Eastern North Carolina passing west of Wilmington and finally out into the Atlantic north of Cape Hatteras. There is still a risk of some spin-off tornadoes over North Florida, SE Georgia and the eastern part of South Carolina. A Tornado Watch is in effect at this time in North Florida from about Tallahassee eastward to include Jacksonville. Around 4 o'clock this morning, a possible tornado touched down two miles west of Jacksonville Beach, mainly bringing down trees and power lines.
RAINFALL
Still a risk of 4 to 8 inches of rain near and east of the track as Alberto moves northeastward through North Florida and SE Georgia. Here are some selected 24-hour rainfall totals. The actual storm total may be greater than these figures.
3.56 inches in Sarasota
2.34 in Daytona Beach
2.35 at Orlando
1.90 at Kissimmee
3.58 in Gainesville
2.38 in Jacksonville
2.88 in Winter Haven
3.58 at St. Petersburg
2.17 in Macon
2.26 at St. Simons Island (Brunswick, Georgia)
Remember, this rain has fallen in the general area where there have been tremendous fires due to drought in the last several months. Even as of today, West Palm Beach has received only 14.56 inches of rain this year and Ft. Myers only 9.27. Birmingham, by comparison, has received 30.51 inches.
10:00 A.M. SPOT REPORTS
Apalachicola...moderate rain, wind NW 18
Panama City...cloudy, N 10
Tallahassee...cloudy, N 17, gusts 29
Cross City...wind S 18, gusts 30
Jacksonville...partly sunny, SE 14
Orlando...light rain, S 22, gusts 31
Daytona...cloudy, S 20, gusts 28
St. Petersburg...mostly sunny, SW 24, gusts 31
Savannah...light rain, E 13
Brunswick...partly sunny, SE 14, gusts to 21
Charleston...cloudy, SE 10
Hilton Head Island...heavy rain, SE 8
With all this beneficial rain, Alberto may have been a godsend. I agree with James Spann's asseessment in his morning discussion that so far there have been more pluses than minuses with this storm.
Please remember that you can get tons of tropical weather information by going to the ABC 33/40 weather page and clicking on tropical weather.
10:00 A.M. LOCATION
The center was near latitude 29.8 N, longitude 83.8 W or about 50 miles SE of Tallahassee. The center is now just offshore from Keaton Beach. Alberto was moving NE at 9 mph and that should continue today. On this track, the center will move across North Florida and into Southern Georgia later this evening.
WARNINGS
No more hurricane warning, but a Tropical Storm Warning continues from Bayport northward and west to the Ochlockonee River. This, of course, is on the Florida Gulf Coast. All warnings south of Bayport have been discontinued. A Tropical Storm Warning remains from Bayport to Indian Pass.
FORECAST TRACK AND TORNADO WATCH
That has not changed. The center should continue across SE Georgia and SE South Carolina passing west of Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston and Myrtle Beach, then across Eastern North Carolina passing west of Wilmington and finally out into the Atlantic north of Cape Hatteras. There is still a risk of some spin-off tornadoes over North Florida, SE Georgia and the eastern part of South Carolina. A Tornado Watch is in effect at this time in North Florida from about Tallahassee eastward to include Jacksonville. Around 4 o'clock this morning, a possible tornado touched down two miles west of Jacksonville Beach, mainly bringing down trees and power lines.
RAINFALL
Still a risk of 4 to 8 inches of rain near and east of the track as Alberto moves northeastward through North Florida and SE Georgia. Here are some selected 24-hour rainfall totals. The actual storm total may be greater than these figures.
3.56 inches in Sarasota
2.34 in Daytona Beach
2.35 at Orlando
1.90 at Kissimmee
3.58 in Gainesville
2.38 in Jacksonville
2.88 in Winter Haven
3.58 at St. Petersburg
2.17 in Macon
2.26 at St. Simons Island (Brunswick, Georgia)
Remember, this rain has fallen in the general area where there have been tremendous fires due to drought in the last several months. Even as of today, West Palm Beach has received only 14.56 inches of rain this year and Ft. Myers only 9.27. Birmingham, by comparison, has received 30.51 inches.
10:00 A.M. SPOT REPORTS
Apalachicola...moderate rain, wind NW 18
Panama City...cloudy, N 10
Tallahassee...cloudy, N 17, gusts 29
Cross City...wind S 18, gusts 30
Jacksonville...partly sunny, SE 14
Orlando...light rain, S 22, gusts 31
Daytona...cloudy, S 20, gusts 28
St. Petersburg...mostly sunny, SW 24, gusts 31
Savannah...light rain, E 13
Brunswick...partly sunny, SE 14, gusts to 21
Charleston...cloudy, SE 10
Hilton Head Island...heavy rain, SE 8
With all this beneficial rain, Alberto may have been a godsend. I agree with James Spann's asseessment in his morning discussion that so far there have been more pluses than minuses with this storm.
Please remember that you can get tons of tropical weather information by going to the ABC 33/40 weather page and clicking on tropical weather.