Nearly a foot of rain brings flooding to Georgia, more headed to South
Heavy rain from Florida to Louisiana is expected by Memorial Day.
Nearly a foot of rain has fallen in parts of west-central Georgia in the past three days, causing significant flooding.
Further west, 2 to 3 inches of rain fell in North Little Rock, Arkansas, Wednesday, causing major flash flooding on streets, stalling cars and stranding drivers.
And more rain is on the way for the Southeast over the holiday weekend.
The tropics are active this week, as a disturbance in the Northwest Caribbean Sea now has a 90% chance for development by this weekend. It’s currently over the Yucatan Peninsula with showers and thunderstorms and is starting to get better organized.
As the system moves north into the Gulf of Mexico by Saturday gradual development intro a tropical or sub-tropical depression or storm is expected. It could become our first named storm of the year, which would be Alberto.
By Sunday the tropical system is near the Gulf coast bringing rounds of heavy rain from Florida to Louisiana, a few flash flood watches have already been issued for Mobile and Pensacola.
Parts of Florida have already seen over a foot of rain in the last 10 days. It has helped the drought immensely, but with such saturated grounds and a lot more rain on the way, flooding will be a big concern. Parts of the Southeast could see locally over a half a foot of rain, along with gusty winds and rip currents along the coast through Memorial Day.
NOAA has issued their 2018 hurricane outlook today in anticipation for hurricane season beginning on June 1st. They are predicting a near to above normal season with five to nine hurricanes and up to 4 of those could become major hurricanes.