Friday, August 22, 2008

Heaviest Rain in 18 Days Pounds Part of the Area, Jacksonville Goes Under Water




It has turned into a stormy day for some of us with rainfall closing in on one inch of rain here on the southside of Lafayette. The good news is the upper-level disturbance bringing this rain will continue to shear out and weaken as we head through the evening with the next batch of thunderstorms expected to be closer to the main front back in Illinois. I still think things will improve as we head into our Friday Night frenzy forecast. Make sure to tune in for the latest on Live Doppler 18. I do not expect a repeat of this on our Saturday. So do not hit the panic button. I will explain why tonight at 5,6, and 11.


The latest check on Florida is not good with tornadoes being sighted from Ponte Vedra Beach to the World Golf Village. These places I mention were all the areas where my family was vacationing at just a few weeks ago. You see us on the beach during the better days before Fay hit. I did notice the weather was bizarre when we were there with unusual rain and disturbingly low pressure for that time of year. I was worried this would make my old stomping grounds a target for tropical systems. My fears became a reality today with tons of power outages hitting the area with very few traffic lights working from the Beach to the Downtown area. This is due to tons of huge oak trees toppling over. Wind speeds of 30 to 50 mph with a saturated ground is not a good combination for those beautiful trees. Powerlines are on homes, cars, and front lawns. Folks are trapped in their homes as a result of these hot wires. Up to four inches of rain per hour hit the area with some localized rainfall now surpassing 14 inches in part of Jacksonville. The St. Johns River is becoming a beast as it approaches high tide this afternoon and is well out of its banks. It is feeling the effects of a storm surge of up to 3 feet along along with those record-setting rains. The river has white caps at this point and looks more like the Atlantic Ocean. The water simply has nowhere to go and I am very worried about many of my favorite places to go being washed away with a clean-up that will last not just months, but years. This tropical storm will go down as one of the worst tropical storms on record and is causing the worst flooding in Jacksonville since 1964.

Evacuations are now taking place from Riverside, San Marco, and the Avondale areas along the St. Johns River. Even areas inland from the ocean and away from the river are now going under water which includes the University of North Florida. The JTB/Gate River Parkway ramp looks more like a river and is closed. If that is not enough another tornado warning has gone into effect at my alma mater. So my prayers go out to all my friends and family and I have not been able to get a hold of my parents. My Dad sent this picture of the Prangley palm tree below before Fay moved into Duval County with devastating feeder bands bringing flash flooding and tornadoes. Things went downhill in a hurry late last night as Fay will go down as one of the most unique storms ever and likely one of the toughest storms ever to track. It has certainly played havoc with all meteorologists and forecast all across the country including here at home. Just look out your window. Not one model showed what happened out there today. We can blame Fay.


I do think another 3 to 6 inches of rain is not out of the question for parts of Jacksonville. The good news is Fay is moving westward which should help end the worst of the torrents of rain over Jacksonville. Where will Fay go.....possible back over the Gulf of Mexico which could allow it to build strength and maybe swing up our way by the middle of next week. What a storm. God bless! I will see you soon.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is so great to know your family is safe and sound Mike!!!!!

I woke up this morning and wow rain LOL :) we had .25" so not much but hey evey little bit helps!
I was starting to forget what rain looked like LOL.

Mike so looking forward to winter and tracking snowstorms with all of you. This is the time of year I drive everyone nut's for all I seem to talk about is winter... :)
My two FAV times of year is fall and winter. Everyone enjoy your day.

Justin in Lafayette.

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean Justin...RAIN?! :)

We've got light showers here in Monticello right now.

Someone fix the radar, its going backwards. Hehehe...

Anonymous said...

Mike..I am so glad your parents fared well during Fay. Wow, what a storm. This year has been known for "historical" storms all over the country.

We are getting the rain and T&L today. So far .34 has fallen but that will change shortly as it is moving in again.

MA in REM

Anonymous said...

We do have some small thunderstorms comeing to tippecanoe nothing bad at all no hail no wind damage just some light thunder and mod rain! all have a great day!

Justin in Lafayette.

Anonymous said...

Hey Mike remember when you said there was another system way out in the atlanic to be watched?

Well I was looking at some map's and there is another system anlong side of that one as well.

By any chance do you have any idea if these could hit the u.s. coast right now models show it moveing in to the u.s of couse it has much time to move but what do you think?

Just thought I would let you know.

Justin in Lafayette.

Anonymous said...

WOW Mike that sounds like some storm Hope everyone stays safe and that floods do damage everything.

As well as your familys place.

God bless everyone!!!!!

Justin in Lafayette.

Anonymous said...

Great picture of your family. Mike, I saw your article about your running in the Helen/Harry magazine, great dedication to you and your running.

Anonymous said...

Great picture of your family. Mike, I saw your article about your running in the Helen/Harry magazine, great dedication to you and your running.

Anonymous said...

What a great pic of your family, Mile! What a dif a few days makes :-( It is not good when TWC and The EArly Show set up camp in your town or neighborhood and that happened today. ES was in Ponte Vedra this morning. So bad that wx has to be so destructive.

We ended up with .59 rain today. It was a nice soaker and CArpenter Creek, before the rain, was lower than I have seen it since the flood in Jan.

MA in REM

Anonymous said...

Wow I wounder how my ex step dad is doing in jacksonville.I was there for the first time in June and saw a wicked storm there.
Glad you got to take you trip b4 all of this Mike. Have a great night/day everyone.
Renee in Lafayette

Anonymous said...

We ended up with another .65" of rain here which makes our total rainfall from yesterday .90".

Everyone have a great day Im off to run! :)

Make it a good one.

Justin in Lafayette.

Anonymous said...

Hi bloggers!Appears to be a strong cell nearing our area ? What do you think Justin?

Teri

Anonymous said...

Well teri it all comes down to is our air stable.

We have had a lot of daytime heating but if our air is stable that they will die down before they get here.
With there not being any towering cumulus or anything like that I think our air is stable now I could be worng so I will keep watch.

Justin in Lafayette.

Anonymous said...

Yes Justin, looks as though things are calming a bit, still so humid, a beautiful summer night! I still think we will get some rain:)

Teri

Anonymous said...

Yes there is still a slight chance which is fine with me as long as there is no rain tomorrow for the big harley MDA run!!!!!

And I agree it has been sooo humid all day.

Justin in Lafayette.