Good morning everyone. We have a lot to go over in terms of the tropics, plus we have a look at our long range forecast that is looking rather interesting heat-wise. First, we go to the tropics where Hurricane Franklin continues to churn up those seas and sends some big swells our way. That’ll equate to rough surf and inlets in the area for a few more days until its departure well out to sea.
The main focus is not our story here in NYC, but down south where we continue to watch Hurricane Idalia. As we speak, it has winds of 80mph sustained and pressure is dropping rapidly. That is the sign of a system that’ll jump in intensity fairly quickly. We are estimating that this point that Idalia may may landfall as a strong Category 3 or “minimal” Category 4 hurricane somewhere in between Apalachicola & Horseshoe Beach Florida, then head across the peninsula, into Georgia, then ride the GA/SC coast just inland, before exiting out somewhere of the NE South Carolina coast.
The worst damage will be confined to the FL coast, but it will pack enough punch to keep it tropical storm strength through its ride inland. Flooding rains, intense squalls, severe weather, brief tornadoes, and tropical storm force winds are expect in parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Hurricane force gusts will be possible in the heaviest rain bands.
Thursday and Friday are looking perfect, with sunshine and highs in the upper 70’s to near 80. We’ll line another perfect day up for Saturday with sunshine and near 80 temps, then we go much warmer for Sunday. The dead air left behind all of these systems will begin to unlock some of the heat in the midwest and allow it to drift eastward. Look for sunshine, increasing humidity, and highs in the mid to upper 80’s.
