We’ve been talking about this system for nearly two weeks now, and by this weekend it will have been two weeks.
The sixth tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic season was a fast starter, skipping right over tropical depression and going straight to tropical storm status on Friday, August 15th. Not unprecedented, but unusual.
Reports from the islands indicated that it certainly could have been a tropical depression the night before.
It has already had two U.S. landfalls, and it about to have a third.
Could it have a fourth?
Conventional thinking says so.
Late model data: the 00z run of the NAM is nearly completely in. Tomorrow night, it shows Fay will be moving offshore in the Florida Big Bend area. By tomorrow night, it will be over the northeastern Gulf. It will be moving slowly westward over the Gulf by Friday morning. By Saturday morning, it will be south of Destin. By Saturday night, would be south of Pensacola. By Sunday morning, it would be moving inland near the Mississippi/Louisiana border. The NAM is not very bullish on its intensity, weakening it a bit and not allowing it to intensify over the Gulf.
Hopefully it will bring some much needed rain to Alabama…
At 10 p.m. CDT…
Fay was located 35 miles SE of Daytona Beach. It is basically stationary. A west northwest motion is expected to commence overnight. Top winds are 60 mph and central pressure is 994 mb as reported by AF reconnaissance. Some slight strengthening could occur while the center is over water tonight.
The Hurricane Center has shifted the track a little further south, hugging the coast, and correspondingly weakening the system. It if gets back over the Gulf, it could become a tropical storm again.
MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS…
…Several wind gusts as high as 51 mph tonight on the Space Coast. Winds have consistently gusted to 40-45 mph
…A 64 foot sailboat rain aground this morning and broke up as it tried to enter the St. Augustine Inlet. No injuries were reported.
RAINFALL REPORTS…
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE MELBOURNE 17.87″
MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 13.88″
VIERA 18.42″
WINDOVER FARMS 24.80″
FORT PIERCE 13.37″
SCRIPPS SPACE COAST REPORT FROM SEBASTIAN- PUBLIC – 18.50″
VERO BEACH 10.04
DAYTONA BEACH 4.30
ORLANDO 3.51
SANFORD 3.42
