Bill upgrade to hurricane
Aug 17, 2009 I Uncategorized.
Bill became the first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season as it continued to increase strength, but remain far from any seashore Monday morning..
Claudette, on the other hand, became the first tropical storm to strikes the U.S. mainland this year when it made landfall in the Florida Panhandle early Monday but damaged as it moved farther inland.
By 8 a.m. ET, Claudette had been downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved above Alabama.
Claudette complete landfall about 1:15 a.m. near the eastern end of Santa Rosa Island, just southeast of Fort Walton Beach in Florida..
It is predictable to move into southern Alabama on Monday morning and into northeastern Mississippi by Monday night.
Even before Claudette made landfall, the storm’s outer bands crushed the area with heavy rain, with officials warning that some coastal areas had the possible for localized flooding.
The storm might bring 3 to 6 inches of rain, with some areas getting up to 10 inches across portions of the Florida Panhandle, central and southern Alabama and tremendous southwestern Georgia. Storm surges and isolated tornadoes also were probable across portions of north Florida.
Authorities urge voluntary evacuations in the low-lying Alligator Point area of Florida’s Franklin County since of concerns about possible flooding..
Meanwhile, Hurricane Bill was in the Atlantic heading west-northwest with highest sustained winds of 90 mph.. The storm’s center was about 1,080 miles east of the Lesser Antilles shortly before 11 a.m. ET.
A third weather system, Ana, was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression.
Ana was about 95 miles southeast of St. Croix early Monday.
It was moving toward the west-northwest near 28 mph, and its maximum continued winds were close to 35 mph…
It was predictable to cross the coast of the Dominican Republic on Monday.