Real News
Tropical Storm Claudette Makes Landfall in Fla.
Monday August 17th, 2009
MIAMI/FOX News — Tropical Storm Claudette has made landfall on the Florida Panhandle near Fort Walton Beach.
The tropical storm's arrival early Monday makes it the first to hit the U.S. mainland this year.
Claudette's maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph, but it's expected to weaken as it moves over land.
Forecasters say rainfall of 3 to 6 inches is expected, with isolated areas getting up to 10 inches along the Panhandle, the Big Bend region, central and southern Alabama and southwestern Georgia.
But Claudette is not expected to cause significant flooding or wind damage.
Lurking more ominously is Tropical Storm Bill, which was expected to turn into a hurricane Monday in the open Atlantic.
Condominiums on Pensacola Beach warned residents to bring balcony furniture indoors with winds from Claudette anticipated to strengthen. Earlier Sunday, a trickle of cars and SUVs with surfboards on top headed east along the coast as surfers were catching waves whipped up by Claudette.
On Pensacola Beach, the National Park Service closed low-lying roads that connect the restaurants and hotels to the undeveloped National Seashore and historic Fort Pickens Fort. The Park Service said campers would be ordered to leave the area because of the likelihood of the road flooding.
"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."
In Panama City, the Bay County Emergency Operations Center opened a shelter at a local high school for residents of low-lying areas and people with special needs.
Alexander Hanrahan, a tourist from London, watched Claudette roll into Pensacola. He said his family feared the storm after watching the television in their beach-front condominium.
"We were actually deliberating whether to get out on the road, but when we got out it was nothing. My mom was nervous because she's not used to driving here anyway," Hanrahan said.
Claudette was expected to move onshore early Monday and into southern Alabama later in the day.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Bill, was intensifying far from land in the open Atlantic, and could become a hurricane early Monday. It had sustained winds of 70 mph (112 kph) . Category 1 hurricanes have winds between 74 mph and 95 mph (119 kph to 153 kph).
Winds from what used to be Tropical Storm Ana diminished to 35 mph (56 kph) and it was expected to make landfall as a depression at the Leeward Islands early Monday. Watches were posted for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Antigua, St. Maarten and several other islands in the area. Ana was forecast to bring up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain.
In the Pacific, Hurricane Guillermo continued to weaken with winds dropping to 75 mph (120 kph). Guillermo was moving on a track that would take it well away from the Hawaiian Islands, forecasters said.
Despite the storms, a warmer weather pattern called El Nino over the Pacific Ocean is generally expected to damper the formation of tropical storms in the Caribbean and Atlantic this year, said Brian Daly, a meteorologist with the national weather service in Mobile, Alabama.
"It's pretty frequent that an El Nino year would be somewhat delayed with fewer storms," Daly said.
Forecasters revised their Atlantic hurricane season predictions after the first two months of the season passed without any named storms developing.
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