Florence Forecast: The driving rain is far from over



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Despite its weakening status as a tropical storm, Florence flooded parts of the North Carolina coast with torrential and historic amounts of rain. Many areas of southeastern North Carolina have suffered 15 to 30 inches of rain and 10 to 15 others may fall.

The rain causes a catastrophic flood in southeastern North Carolina, which spreads into the interior of the state into the communities of Raleigh and Charlotte. The event has already broken the state record for most rains ever seen in a tropical storm or hurricane, with a preliminary ratio of over 30 inches.

Flood waters are expected to push many rivers to unprecedented levels and, to the mountains of western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia, could lead to potentially deadly landslides.

The storm has already dumped about 6,000 billion liters of rain, according to Ryan Maue, a meteorologist for weathermodels.com. By the time he gets out of the east coast, he expects the number to reach 18 trillion gallons, enough to cover Texas in four inches of water and fill the Chesapeake Bay. In other words, "we are only about a third," said Maue.

The national meteorological service tweeted at least 10 million people should see at least four inches of rain early next week. "#Florence is far from over" It said.

Precipitation up to now

By Saturday afternoon, many places in southeastern North Carolina had experienced more than 20 inches of rain, with Onslow County particularly affected.

At least two localities in Onslow County appear to have broken the record of tropical rainfall or hurricane status, surpassing the previous record of 24.09 inches set near Wilmington during the summer. Hurricane Floyd in 1999:

  • Swansboro: 30.58 inches
  • Hoffman Raws: 25.77

The 30-inch Swansboro total is best suited for any tropical storm or hurricane north of Florida along the east coast. two-day and three-day rain record for North Carolina.

Last year, Florence was the third tropical system to set a new rainfall record after Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Lane in Hawaii.

Since arriving in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina on Friday morning, Florence's speed has almost stagnated. 17 hours. Saturday it drifted west just 2 mph. The slow movement of the storm, parallel to the coast, created several bands of heavy rain, capable of producing two to four inches of rain per hour, resting in most of the same places for nearly a day and a half.

Sudden flood emergencies – the most critical category of flood warning – have sometimes been applied in many counties in southeastern North Carolina.

Until Sunday: torrential rains continue in southeastern North Carolina as they spread westward

Florence was slowly heading southwest Saturday, also causing heavy rains of rain towards the southwest. Although this relieved the flooded areas of Onslow County, the town of Wilmington, the coastal communities of southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina, have unfortunately been placed at first. plan.

Until Sunday morning, more than one foot of rain should fall in and around Wilmington, adding to the 14 inches already received by the city from Florence.


A 24-hour precipitation forecast is displayed until Sunday morning. An additional rain of 12 to 14 inches is expected in the Wilmington area. (WeatherBell.com) (Greg Porter)

The strongest rain is expected to gradually decline in southeast North Carolina on Sunday.

Most rivers in northeastern South Carolina and eastern North Carolina are experiencing moderate to major floods and in some cases, many floods will continue to occur next week due to downstream flooding.

The Cape Fear River in Fayetteville, North Carolina, is expected to rise by an astonishing 45 feet by Tuesday, where mandatory evacuation is in place.

Levels of water along the Lumberton River at Lumberton are planned to top the record level set during Hurricane Matthew two years ago.

The floods also exceed the coast of North Carolina. The flash flood has spread to Raleigh and will extend to Charlotte, where flash flood warnings are in effect. Both cities could see 6 to 10 inches of rain, with higher amounts locally.

It is also expected that much of northern and western South Carolina will receive at least 5 to 10 inches of rain, which could lead to flooding problems.

As the center of the storm moves inland, the counter-clockwise rotation around the center of circulation will continue to cause loads of tropical moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. push towards the

The elevation will serve as a forcing mechanism for the abundant moisture at low altitude driven by Florence, essentially creating an ideal environment for torrential rains and the possibility of landslides, especially from Sunday to Monday. According to Tuesday's forecast, five to ten inches of rain and 15-inch isolated amounts are expected to cross central and western North Carolina and southwest Virginia.

The uncertainty in the course of Florence beyond Sunday

Florence will gradually lose its tropical characteristics until Sunday, but the storm will continue to be dangerous as it begins to turn to the north. However, there is still much uncertainty as to the ultimate trajectory of the storm.

The computer models mainly show the remains of Florence heading west of North Carolina Sunday afternoon, before making a sharp turn to the north / northeast as the storm begins to be taken by the North America. However, there are still differences between the models as to the amount of movement from the center of the storm northward to the northeast.

If the storm spreads further west and rises into the Ohio Valley, the worst rains and associated effects of the storm would be concentrated west of Washington and more concentrated towards the west. 39, western Pennsylvania and the interior of New England. However, if the storm heads east, much of the Atlantic would be exposed to a period of heavy rain and even the threat of extreme weather late Monday and Tuesday.

At this time, the National Weather Service predicts a three to six-inch rainfall between west-central Virginia and the far east of West Virginia, north of Roanoke and west of Charlottesville to the west. To Tuesday.

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