Update
July 21st 5 A.M
Tropical Storm Bertha has gained more strength and now has peak winds of 50 mph. It is still moving nearly stationary at only 2 mph northwestward.
Bands of rain throughout the day and gusts around 35 mph outside of the coastline will be our main concern. Winds along the coastline can reach 40-50 mph.
Our coast is no longer in a Tropical Storm Watch, but we are in a Wind Advisory and Marine Warning. Wave heights and strong rip currents are our main concern along our coastal waters.
Original
July 20th 8 P.M.
Tropical Storm Bertha developed from the raggedly formed mass of clouds and rain swirling in the northeastern Gulf of America / Gulf of Mexico Monday evening as its core stays southwest of the Big Bend region.
The tropical storm has peak winds of 40 mph and its movement late Monday night was nearly stationary.
A tropical storm watch remains in place for areas from Apalachicola westward. This means occasional wind gusts of 40 mph are possible within the watch zone in the next 48 hours.
Tropical Storm watches and warnings have been discontinued for Apalachee Bay and coastal Franklin County.
As the system is set to remain over the waters of the Gulf in the days ahead, the expectation is for the storm to move west to northwest, essentially parallelling the Big Bend and Panhandle coastlines. This would keep the center of the system offshore.
Bands of rain, showers, and thunderstorms can be experienced along the coastal areas and just inland from there through Tuesday. Rainfall can be heavy at times, with a low risk for flash flooding and excessive rainfall particularly along the coast, where isolated rain totals have already exceeded two inches.
Isolated thunderstorms have the chance to become briefly severe, mainly along the immediate coast and offshore.
Water levels along the central and western Big Bend coast may be as high as three feet above normal levels Tuesday, an increase caused by the onshore wind flow.
While local winds can gust upwards of 25 mph, broader adverse effects from sustained wind are not anticipated locally. However, to account for occasional gusts near 40 mph at the immediate coast, a wind advisory will be in effect in coastal Franklin and Wakulla counties Tuesday.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
