THURS 11:30 PM – Ian is still a significant storm – It was a Category 4 – when it moved onshore into SW Florida. The storm has crossed central Florida and weakened over land to a Tropical Storm. It reemerged over the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Daytona Beach and intensified back to Category 1 hurricane strength. The storm is spreading heavy rain up into the Carolinas and that will move up into western Virginia.

PEAK WIND GUSTS IN FLORIDA: 140 mph Cape Coral, 135 mph Punta Gorda, 126 mph Redfish Point, , 122 mph Cape Coral, 112 mph Pelican Bay, 110 mph Fort Myers, Port Charlotte and Grove City, 109 mph Tarpon Point, 106 mph Sarasota Bay, 104 mph S. Venice, 98 mph Sanibel Is., 96 mph Bonita Springs, 95 mph Estero, 87 mph Tampa Bay, 86 mph Bradenton, 85 mph Ruskin, 82 mph Venice, 81 mph Longboat Key, 79 mph Key West., 78 mph Lakeland, 77 mph St Petersburg.

Watch the news for drone and helicopter pics. of the barrier islands and shore areas of the mainland. There has been very significant damage. Some homes broke apart or floated away. The causeway to Sanibel and Captiva Islands was washed away in several places. Sanibel is known for the volume of shells that are on the island’s beaches.

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Projected path of Hurricane Ian

KCLX



Charleston SC radar





The path of storm looks similar to Hurricane Michael. That storm did significant damage to northwest Florida in October of 2018. The Panama Beach/Mexico Beach area. A gust of 139 mph was recorded at Tyndall AFB. I read one report that said that damage to aircraft there was 6 billion dollars. My first thought was – they knew a hurricane was coming – why didn’t they fly the planes to a safer location?

Tropical Storm and Hurricane Watches and Warningstime of arrival graphic
Arrival of Tropical Storm Winds – Note that Tropical Storm Wind Gusts are expected well inland into Atlanta and Birmingham

[Spanish Key Messages]

Hurricane Information in Spanish

Southeast U.S. radar

Check out the coverage from our sister station in Tampa, WFLA.

Seven Day Total Rainfall Forecast from the Weather Prediction Center for this Sept. 25 to Oct. 2

Here’s the 7-Day Rainfall Forecast from the Weather Prediction Center. Note the very heavy rain expected (mostly from Hurricane Ian) in the southeast U.S. Note also the rain in the Great Lakes was heavier downwind (northwest wind) from each lake. There was general showers and this included lake-effect rain showers as this cold air comes over the relatively warmer lakes.

There will continue to be a few, widely scattered “monsoon” mainly afternoon showers and thundershowers over portions of the Western and Southwestern Mountains. Rainfall Saturday Sept. 24 included 0.10″ at the Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix AZ, 0.10″ in Carefree AZ and 0.14″ at Truth or Consequences NM.

The cool air has brought down water temps. Thu. AM 9 29 – the water temp. at Reeds Lake was 63, then with full sun and calm winds, the water temperature rose 2 degrees to 65 by evening. The water temp. at the South Haven buoy was 63 and the Port Sheldon buoy showed 62.