Chief Meteorologist Patrick Rockey's First Warning Forecast
We are starting the work week with plenty of sunshine. But it looks like we will end the work week with a visit from a tropical system.
Hurricane Ian is making its way through the Caribbean and continuing to intensify. The storm is expected to cross over the western tip of Cuba before making landfall somewhere along the Florida Gulf Coast toward midweek.
With extremely warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico and favorable wind conditions, Ian is expected to grow into a category four monster hurricane.
Once the storm makes landfall in Florida, it is expected to weaken and move in our general direction.
But there is still plenty of uncertainty. The storm could cross, Florida, move into the Atlantic and re-intensify. Or the storm could move deeper inland through Georgia, and dissipate.
But it is very likely that we will be impacted by Ian. Here’s how it looks like it will play out right now:
We expect clouds from Ian to move in by Wednesday afternoon. Thursday will be mostly cloudy but dry. Rain from the remnants of the storm will likely start to move in late Friday.
Saturday is looking like a very soggy day and showers are looking likely Sunday and possibly Monday.
Our two main long-range forecast models are painting in anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain before Ian moves out. But that will be very dependent on Ian’s track.
What about strong winds and tornadoes if the center of Ian stays to our west, the entire area would be on was called the dirty side of the storm.
That’s the side of the storm, where you can expect the strongest winds and the biggest risk for tornadoes.But, there is still plenty of uncertainty and a lot can and will change by the time. Ian gets here. Stay tuned.
