Claudette Due Ashore Tonight; T.S. Bill May Become Major Hurricane
UPDATED: 5:20 pm EDT August 16, 2009
UPDATED: 5:20 pm EDT August 16, 2009
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After a slow start to the Atlantic hurricane season, the season's first three tropical storms have formed in three days. One is due to come ashore in Florida's Panhandle Sunday night and forecasters say another heading toward the Caribbean has potential to grow into a major hurricane.
At 5 a.m. Sunday, the National Hurricane Service issued a tropical storm warning for areas from the mouth of the Suwannee River west to the Alabama state line due to a tropical depression. Hours later, when a reconnaissance flight found winds near 50 mph, the hurricane center named the system Tropical Story Claudette.
At 5 p.m., the system was centered about 40 miles west-southwest of Apalachicola and moving toward the northwest at near 14 mph. The center of Claudette should move ashore near Panama City Sunday evening, and the Hurricane Service said there is a change of additional strengthening before landfall.
Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches was forecast, with isolated showers of up to 10 inches in northwest Florida, forecasters said.
"We may see some heavy rains as a result, but we don't expect any high winds or coastal flooding," said John Dosh, manager of Emergency Management. "This event is a good example of how quickly a tropical storm can develop. We won't always have a lot of warning. This is why citizens need to be prepared throughout hurricane season."
The system in the gulf appeared as people on Florida's east coast were watching tropical storms Ana and Bill moving west over open waters in the Atlantic.
The Leeward Islands were keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Ana, where the storm is expected to make landfall early Monday.
A tropical storm watch remained in effect for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. Tropical storm conditions were possible within the next 36 hours.
With 35 mph sustained winds, Ana was moving west at near 23 mph. At 5 p.m., the storm was about 120 miles east of Dominica.
Anna was not expected to grow beyond tropical-storm strength and may dissipate into a low-pressure system before approaching the southern tip of Florida late Thursday.
Forecasters are more leery of Tropical Storm Bill, which formed Saturday and was about 1,440 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and moving west-northwest at near 16 mph.
Bill had winds of near 65 mph Sunday morning, but was expected to build momentum and become a hurricane as early as Monday.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Bill will be a very intense hurricane -- perhaps this season's strongest," Channel 4 chief meteorologist John Gaughan wrote on his blog, Gaughan Bloggin'. "The good news is that long-range models are indicating a sudden, hard turn to the north in seven days."
"We won't know of Bill's U.S. landfall, if any, until next weekend," said meteorologist emeritus George Winterling on his Hurricane Blog.
Meanwhile in the Pacific, Hurricane Guillermo was swirling as a Category 2 storm.
Guillermo had weakened slightly, with maximum sustained winds dropping to 100 mph. It was expected to lose more steam and dwindle to a tropical storm in the next day or two. Guillermo was moving west at 15 mph, about 1,150 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii.
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