Tropical Depressions 08 and 09
Over the next five days our weather will be influenced by, not one, but two tropical depressions.
Just south of TD 08 is a large area of water vapor and storms extending down the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida coasts. This area of moisture is flowing from the Atlantic and is helping to steer TD 08 away from land. Our weather is already being affected, with the thick cloud cover and rip tide warnings being the most visible results. There is a 50 to 60 percent chance of rain because of this moisture through tomorrow night. The NWS is forecasting at least an inch of rain over the next 48 hours. As usual with rain forecasts, we will probably wind up a bit short of that.
Starting Thursday morning, TD 09 will begin to affect our weather in a big way. The chances of rain increase to 70 to 80 percent, and the wind and rainfall forecasts both increase to tropical storm levels. The rain forecast from 7 AM Thursday to 7 PM Friday tops three inches and the winds are expected to peak at around 2 AM Friday with 50 MPH winds and 65 MPH gusts.
As of the 11 AM tracks of Tropical Depression 09, the storm will be passing over Jacksonville, Florida at 7 PM, Thursday evening. This is also the storm’s closet approach to Glynn County. The tracks have remained remarkably consistent over the last twenty-four hours, so at this point I feel safe in saying that Thursday and Friday’s weather forecast from the NWS is fairly accurate in timing if not in magnitude.
As I wrote above, the NWS has, far more often than not, over-estimated the winds and rain from a passing tropical system. Even so, be prepared for anything, including high winds, blinding rain, rip tides, and tornadoes.