Tropical Storm Sally forms in the Gulf of Mexico

[CellarDweller]

Tropical Storm Sally forms in the Gulf of Mexico

By Allison Chinchar, CNN Meteorologist


Tropical Storm Sally is now the 18th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

Sally -- also the earliest 18th named storm on record -- has already brought heavy rain and gusty winds to Florida Saturday as the storm moved into the Gulf of Mexico today.
Flood watches are in effect through Sunday for areas of Florida's west coast including Tampa, Bradenton, Port Charlotte and Fort Myers. In these areas, 2 to 4 inches of rain is expected through the weekend.



Most forecast models have Sally moving toward the northern Gulf Coast and likely making landfall somewhere between New Orleans and Panama City by late Monday or Tuesday, however if the track shifts farther west or slows down, landfall may hold off until Wednesday.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/12/weather/t...index.html

[Bhp91126]

Yup, and she’s forecast to say hi to Louisiana and Texas next week, as a hurricane. The poor people in the area probably start to wonder which deity they pissed off this year.

[CellarDweller]

2020 just keeps getting better!

[InbetweenDreams]

Crazy how quick stuff organizes in the tropics...

Here's the visible satellite (GOES-16) and composite radar...

https://weather.cod.edu/satrad/?parms=lo...24-1-100-1&checked=radar-map-ww&colorbar=undefined

[CellarDweller]

Hurricane Sally expected to bring historic flooding to Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Panhandle

By Jeff Masters, Ph.D. | Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Hurricane Sally weakened overnight to a category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds, but the slow-moving storm is expected to bring historic flooding to the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle on Tuesday through Thursday. A widespread area of 10 – 20 inches of rain is expected, with some pockets of 30 inches, accompanied by coastal storm surge flooding of four to seven feet.

Despite its category 1 ranking, Sally is extremely dangerous.  At 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday, September 15, Sally was centered 105 miles south of Mobile, Alabama, headed northwest at 2 mph with top sustained winds of 80 mph and a central pressure of 982 mb. Wind gusts as high as 94 mph were observed late Tuesday morning at the VK 786/Petronius (Chevron) oil rig offshore from Mobile, Alabama (elevation 525 feet). On Monday, the site measured sustained winds of 100 mph, gusting to 117 mph.

Data from the Hurricane Hunters, satellite, and radar showed no significant changes to Sally’s organization over the 18 hours ending at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday. The hurricane was well-organized, but was having difficulty establishing a complete eyewall in the face of moderately high wind shear of 20 – 25 knots from upper-level winds out of the west. Sally was bringing heavy rains to the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, and Mississippi coasts on Tuesday. Radar-estimated rainfall amounts of 2 – 3 inches had fallen in the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola as of 2 p.m. EDT, with 1 – 2 inches common along the coast of Alabama.

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/...panhandle/

[InbetweenDreams]

It's not good when they stall out. We're supposed to get a bunch of rain from Sally as well, I think 4-6" maybe more, a lot depends on the path it takes.