Tropical Storm Debby has reached its second and final landfall.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Debby made landfall as a tropical storm near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, around 1 a.m. Thursday, with estimated sustained winds of about 50 mph (80 km/h).
The hurricane center warned that Debby would continue to pose a major flood threat to the Carolinas and Virginia today and that rains would spread across the east coast and northeastern United States through Friday.
Debby first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Steinhatchee in Florida’s Big Bend region on Monday.
It then moved over northern Florida and southern Georgia before returning to the Atlantic.
Debby continued to creep inland into South Carolina on Thursday morning, and flash flood warnings (green) were issued for parts of South and North Carolina:
Debby brought plenty of rain again on Thursday. Flash flood warnings were in effect for the areas marked in green on Thursday morning.NWS
As of 7:00 a.m. CDT Thursday, the center of Tropical Storm Debby was located about 90 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina and moving northwest at 7 mph.
According to the hurricane center, Debby’s wind speed was still about 80 km/h. Debby is expected to develop into a tropical depression later today and combine with a front by Friday.
Meteorologists say Debby is expected to pick up speed today and move across eastern South Carolina and into central North Carolina by this evening. It will then move northeastward across the Mid-Atlantic region and move northeastward by Friday.
Debby will continue to bring heavy rain and could cause deadly flash flooding this week. Another 3 to 6 inches of rainfall is possible in southeastern North Carolina, and in some areas, Debby could dump up to 15 inches of rain before it passes.
Eastern South Carolina could see an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain, bringing Debby’s rainfall total to 20 to 25 inches.
The hurricane center said “significant” flooding is expected in parts of eastern South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina through Friday.
Additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 7 inches are possible in Virginia, and areas from Maryland north to upstate New York could see 2 to 4 inches.
Sudden flooding and river flooding may occur in all these areas.
WATCHING THE CARIBBEAN
Hurricane meteorologists will monitor the yellow area for the rest of the week, alert for the next possible storm.NHC
The hurricane center on Thursday highlighted another area near the Caribbean that will be monitored in the coming days.
Meteorologists expect that a low-pressure area could form in the central Atlantic early next week and head towards the Lesser Antilles in about a week.
Meteorologists believe that the probability of the storm developing into a low-pressure area over the next week is low (30 percent), but it will be in a favorable zone for development and will be closely monitored in the coming days.
By the way, the next name on the 2024 storm list is Ernesto.
