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In a matter of three days, Hurricane Debby has gone from a wave to a depression to a tropical storm… and late Sunday (August 4, 2024) officially became the second hurricane of the 2024 season. And while she’s not going to become a category five monster like Hurricane Beryl, the projected impact she is likely to have on multiple southeastern states over the coming three days looms large.
First, the storm’s particulars: As of the 11:00 p.m. EDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida, Debby was located at latitude 28.6° N, longitude 84.0° W – or approximately 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, Florida. The hurricane – which was moving north at twelve miles per hour – was packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (with stronger gusts).
That makes it just strong enough to qualify as a category one storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale – with further strengthening anticipated in the hours before it is projected to make landfall along Florida’s Big Bend on Monday.
After that, forecasters warned of a “major flood threat” from the slow-moving storm…
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Based on the latest data from the NHC’s Lockheed WP-3D Orion “hurricane hunter” aircraft, Debby’s hurricane force winds extended outward from her center for 45 miles while her tropical storm force winds extended outward for 140 miles.
While Debby’s immediate target is Florida’s coastline, some of the storm’s most pernicious impacts could wind up befalling South Carolina. As we’ve noted from the beginning of our coverage of this system, Debby’s unique forecast track calls for it to stall off of the South Carolina coast prior to jogging north into the center of the Palmetto State.
“A gradual decrease in forward speed with a turn toward the northeast and east is expected on Monday and Tuesday,” NHC forecasters noted. “On the forecast track, the center will move across the northeastern Gulf of Mexico tonight and reach the Florida Big Bend coast Monday morning. Debby is then expected to move slowly across northern Florida and southern Georgia Monday and Tuesday, and be near the Georgia coast by Tuesday night.”
Assuming those projections hold, the storm threatens to bring rainfall to South Carolina not seen since 2015’s ‘Floodmageddon’ – a natural disaster that killed more than a dozen people and exposed glaring weaknesses in the Palmetto State’s infrastructure.
Here are the latest projected rainfall totals associated with the system …
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While those projected rainfall totals appear mildly less severe than previous projections, Charleston, S.C. – which has a history of flooding – remains very much in the crosshairs of this system. NHC forecasters also reiterated warnings of “potentially historic rainfall” and “catastrophic flooding” in the Palmetto Lowcountry.
For now, tropical storm warnings are in effect along the coast of South Carolina “from the Savannah River to South Santee River,” according to NHC. Storm surge warnings are in effect for the same areas.
Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency for South Carolina on Sunday afternoon in anticipation of Debby’s arrival, urging residents to “start making preparations and plans today in case it is necessary to take quick action.”
Count on this media outlet to keep our audience advised as to the latest developments related to this system and its potential impact on the Palmetto State. For more information on Debby and other developments in the tropics, be sure to check out our new weather page.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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