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| -Short Attention Span Theater- | ||
| Ernesto Continues Moving Northward Toward The Carolinas | ||
| 2006-08-31 | ||
| AT 800 AM EDT...1200Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 30.4 NORTH...LONGITUDE 79.9 WEST OR ABOUT 95 MILES...155 KM...EAST OF JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA AND ABOUT 170 MILES... 275 KM...SOUTH OF CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA. ERNESTO IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR 15 MPH...24 KM/HR...AND A GRADUAL TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST AND A FASTER FORWARD SPEED ARE EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THIS MOTION WILL TAKE THE CENTER OF ERNESTO FARTHER AWAY FROM THE COAST OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA TODAY...AND COULD BRING THE CENTER NEAR THE NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA COASTS LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT.
TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 85 MILES...140 KM MAINLY TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THE CENTER. LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE PLANE WAS 996 MB...29.41 INCHES. COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 3 TO 5 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE COASTS OF SOUTH AND NORTH CAROLINA IN AREAS OF ONSHORE FLOW WITHIN THE WARNING AREA. COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 1 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE GEORGIA COAST IN AREAS OF ONSHORE FLOW. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE FROM NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA INTO THE MID-ATLANTIC STATES...AND THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL APPALACHIANS...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 12 INCHES...THROUGH SATURDAY. THESE AMOUNTS COULD CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS. ADDITIONAL ISOLATED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER FLORIDA TODAY. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE OVER EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 Rain, blessed rain. Central Virginia needs rain. Come on, rain. Though I feel sorry for the folks in The Bottom - they're gonna get slammed. Again. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-08-31 21:07 |
| #6 Looks like we dodged the bullet but not by much - Ernesto shifted just a few miles to the east and looks to be going ashore at Wilmington NC around 10PM EST - it will probably be a weak hurricane by that point. Lotsa rain, no winds at all yet but local news is saying gusts of up to 40 MPH at MB. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-08-31 19:03 |
| #5 I told Fred I'll come help sandbag the Rantburg servers again... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-08-31 17:33 |
| #4 I'm about 45 min's up the coast from Wilmington, NC. Just getting some rain here. Luckily I do not live in a flood zone. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-08-31 17:08 |
| #3 Be careful up there, Mike. Hope you are on higher ground, safe and secure. Keep us posted. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-08-31 17:05 |
| #2 Mike, time to start worrying, it's getting stronger:Forecasters issued a hurricane watch for the North and South Carolina coasts Thursday as Tropical Storm Ernesto gained strength over the Atlantic. The watch, stretching from South Carolina's Santee River to Cape Lookout in North Carolina, means hurricane conditions, with sustained winds of at least 74 mph, are possible within 12 hours. Ernesto had been downgraded to a tropical depression over Florida, but gained strength and was upgraded as it moved over the warm waters of the Atlantic. It's outer bands reach the South Carolina coast Thursday morning, and its sustained wind was near 60 mph shortly before noon. The storm was forecast to make landfall late Thursday along South Carolina's coast, likely near Georgetown, then head for central North Carolina. At 11 a.m. Thursday, Ernesto was centered about 105 miles south-southeast of Charleston, S.C., and about 225 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, N.C. It was moving north-northeast at about 17 mph. Ernesto's 60 mph sustained wind at 11 a.m. was up 20 mph from early Thursday. The storm was expected to move ashore along the northern South Carolina coast Thursday afternoon or night and expected to quickly weaken after making landfall, but a larger area will be affected because tropical storm-force winds stretched out up to 85 miles from its center. Time to get out, Mike |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-08-31 13:07 |
| #1 Steve, this time I was the magnet - like I said yesterday, I finally move to the coast 3 weeks ago and this is what happens. I'm about 20 miles N/NW of Myrtle Beach, the track takes it directly over the house. We lost Direct TV a few minutes ago, so we're relying on the net to tell us what's going on. At this point it's just lotsa rain, but we expect to get winds in the 30 MPH range between about 6PM and midnight - other than that though it shouldn't be too bad. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-08-31 11:23 |