Posted on 06/11/2005 1:38:16 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Sprawling, misshapen and messy, Tropical Storm Arlene slogged north Friday through the Gulf of Mexico for its expected arrival near Florida's Panhandle today.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Friday that Arlene could have winds topping 70 mph this afternoon.
Forecasters put landfall sometime this afternoon near the border of Florida and Alabama. Gov. Jeb Bush has declared a state of emergency. Forecasters say Arlene could become a minimal hurricane, which means winds of more than 74 mph.
With most of the wind and rain to the east and north of Arlene's ill-defined center, forecasters said bad weather will arrive hours before the eye reaches land.
In the Tampa Bay area, the weather may clear by the afternoon, said Tom Dougherty, National Weather Service meteorologist in Ruskin.
``There should still be a lot of activity early Saturday morning. But we may at least see a little sunshine by the afternoon,'' he said.
Arlene spread less than an inch of rain Friday over the state, with a few places getting several inches, Dougherty said.
The rain was expected to continue during the night, however, and eventually total 2 to 5 inches.
A flood watch was posted Friday for all of the Bay area until tonight. Residents in flood-prone areas should be prepared. A tornado watch was in effect until 8 a.m. today.
The weather service issued several tornado warnings Friday for Highlands, DeSoto and Manatee counties when radar showed conditions were right for twisters to form.
There were no reports of any being spotted or touching down, Dougherty said.
Even with only a mild brush from Arlene, the storm may have caused one death Friday.
A Russian exchange student died after being pulled from the waves off Miami Beach early Friday, officials said.
Tropical Storm Arlene Advisory Number 14
Statement as of 4:00 PM CDT on June 11, 2005
...Center of Arlene moves inland just west of Pensacola Florida...
at 4 PM CDT...2100 UTC...all hurricane watches and warnings and all
coastal tropical storm warnings are discontinued...except for a
portion of the coast from the Alabama/Mississippi border eastward
to Panama City Florida. A Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect
only from the Alabama/Mississippi border eastward to Panama City.
The Tropical Storm Warning will likely be discontinued later
tonight.
For storm information specific to your area...including possible
inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued
by your local weather office.
At 4 PM CDT...2100z...the large center of circulation of Tropical
Storm Arlene was located inland near latitude 30.7 north...
longitude 87.4 west...or about 20 miles northwest of Pensacola
Florida.
Arlene is moving toward the north near 15 mph. This motion is
expected to continue during the next 24 hours...bringing the center
of Arlene farther inland.
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 50 mph...with higher
gusts...confined to the southeast of the center and over water.
Weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 115 miles to the
southeast of the center.
Estimated minimum central pressure is 991 mb...29.26 inches.
Coastal storm surge flooding of 3 to 5 feet above normal tide
levels...along with large and dangerous battering waves...continues
east of where the center has made landfall. Surge and waves should
gradually decrease during the next few hours. Coastal water levels
are beginning to decrease to the west of where the center has made
landfall.
Arlene is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 2 to 4
inches primarily to the north and just to the west of the storm
track...from the lower Mississippi Valley northward into parts of
eastern Indiana and western Ohio over the next 36 hours. Isolated
maximum amounts of up to 6 inches are possible in this area.
Repeating the 4 PM CDT position...30.7 N... 87.4 W. Movement
toward...north near 15 mph. Maximum sustained winds... 50 mph.
Minimum central pressure... 991 mb.
An intermediate advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane
Center at 7 PM CDT followed by the next complete advisory at 10 PM
CDT.
Forecaster Avila/Knabb
How ya doing?
I had to drill so I was about 50 miles from home on Saturday. We came through fine, just got a lot of rain. Never even lost power. I am not sure about my friends at the beaches yet though.
THIS WAS JUST A TROPICAL STORM. It was just a slowly swirling bunch of clouds and some fine rain. I don't know why the media made such a huge issue out of this summer storm. They shut down Pensacola Airport even though we didn't have any high winds. People acted like it's going to be a serious storm, and look, it didn't do any damage! The wind blew off some small branches from the trees. That's all. I don't understand why everbody is focusing on this tropical storm as if it were some kind of terrible beast...
Two or three years ago, a tropical storm came, and just like now, the eye of the storm went through Pensacola. You know what we did? We went to ride our bikes on the beach. And it was such a beautiful weather! It was slightly raining and the wind was blowing calmly. It was perfect weather! This tropical storm, Arlene was no different.
Heh, just hit us in KY. Don't get to say that very often!
THE WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS A MID LEVEL CIRCULATION... REMNANTS OF ARLENE... CURRENTLY PUSHING NORTH INTO SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN. AS OF 08Z... THE MAIN BAND OF SHOWERS EXTENDED FROM SW LOWER MI ALONG THE I-69/M59 CORRIDORS. THIS IS WHERE THE STRONGER MID LEVEL DEFORMATION DYNAMICS ARE LOCATED. HAVE HAD SEVERAL LIGHTNING STRIKES ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. THESE HAVE OCCURRED ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF MID LEVEL DRY AIR PER WATER VAPOR IMAGE. THIS BEST LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM HAS SET UP A BIT FARTHER WEST THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT. THEREFORE... THE MORE WIDESPREAD RAIN HAS OCCURRED ALONG AND WEST OF THE I-75/US 23 CORRIDOR FROM SAGINAW TO ANN ARBOR. BASED ON RADAR ESTIMATES... A QUARTER TO HALF AN INCH OF RAIN HAS OCCURRED WITHIN THE HEAVIEST SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DUE TO THE TROPICAL NATURE OF THE AIRMASS.
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