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Hurricane Hermine Info & Updates

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Kurt

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3 Things To Know About Tropical Depression Nine - wunderground.com

After spending ten days in meteorological limbo-land frustrating forecasters as an “Invest”, 99L finally developed into Tropical Depression Nine, confirmed a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft late Sunday afternoon. But the storm isn’t done perplexing us yet—the model predictions for the future intensity of the storm remain wildly divergent, even if we now have growing confidence that this storm will track into the coast of Florida north of Tampa on Thursday.


Gulf of Mexico's Hermine Finally Gets its Name; Hurricane Madeline Lashing Hawaii | Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog
Tropical Depression Nine in the Gulf of Mexico finally got its act together enough to deserve a name, the NOAA Hurricane Hunters discovered on Wednesday afternoon. They found top sustained winds of 45 mph in Tropical Storm Hermine, ending a week-long drama that left us all wondering if someone had cast a “hold” spell on the storm. However, the aircraft found that the storm’s central pressure remained a fairly high 1004 mb, and Hermine has a lot of organizing to do before it can become a hurricane. Late Wednesday afternoon, the strong winds from Hermine were already creating storm surge heights over 1’ along the entire Gulf Coast from New Orleans, Louisiana to Naples, Florida. The maximum surge was just over 2’ at Cedar Key, Florida on Wednesday afternoon. Satellite images on Wednesday afternoon showed a much more organized storm, with heavy thunderstorms building near the storm’s center and some significant low-level spiral bands forming.

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Walton County Emergency Management
1 hr ·
Good afternoon!

Below is the latest storm summary. At this time, the storm is still on track to make landfall in the Big Bend area. We will continue to pay close attention and advise if there are any significant changes otherwise you’ll continue to receive once daily updates.

Current Situation:
• The center of Tropical Depression 9 is located 195 miles west southwest of Key West. The Depression is moving west northwest near 5 mph.
• A turn towards the north-northwest is expected on Tuesday night, followed by a turn toward the north-northeast on Wednesday.
• Some strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and the depression is expected to become a tropical storm by Tuesday.
• Computer models are in agreement that T.D. 9 will sharply curve towards Florida on Wednesday, and likely make landfall along the Big Bend region sometime on Thursday.
• Still, possible impacts may be felt from Tampa to Panama City. The main impacts would be flash flooding from heavy rain, coastal flooding from minor storm surge, isolated tornadoes, and damaging sustained tropical storm force winds.
• The heaviest precipitation will be on Wednesday and Thursday along the Gulf Coast from Naples north through Tampa and the Nature Coast.
• The next two names on the Atlantic storm list are Hermine and Ian.

Impacts:
• At this time we are not expecting any impacts to Walton County but it’s best to be vigilant as conditions may change.
• We could have strong life threatening rip currents are likely along all east coast beaches for the next few days. Rip currents will likely spread to the Gulf Coast as the storm approaches and ocean swells increase.

Current Actions:
• WCEM attended a storm preparation briefing today with Walton County Sheriff, Michael A. Adkinson, Jr. Command Staff.
• Twice daily conference calls with the Florida SERT and the NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center and once daily conference calls with the US National Weather Service Tallahassee Florida.
• At this time we are not taking any protective actions but we are ready to should the need arise.
• Providing once daily update.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
 
WALTON COUNTY ISSUES LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY: WEATHER ALERTS AND OPERATIONS UPDATES FOR TROPICAL STORM HERMINE

DeFuniak Springs, FL...The Walton County Board of County Commissioners, in conjunction with the Walton County Sheriff's Office, Board of Education and other Constitutional Offices has issued a local state of emergency in response to the impending weather event to be caused by Tropical Storm Hermine.

Walton County is currently under a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch.

As part of the local state of emergency, the following actions have been taken:


1. Walton County Emergency Management has issued a mandatory evacuation for all locations that fall within Evacuation Zone A (Low lying coastal areas and manufactured homes/trailer) beginning at 7:00am Thursday, September 1st. To find your locations evacuation zone, please visit Story Map Swipe and Spyglass<Story Map Swipe and Spyglass
>.



2. Walton County Emergency Management has opened an Evacuation Shelter for the general population and those with special medical needs. The shelter will be opened at 7:00am on Thursday, September 1st and will be located at Freeport High School at 12615 U.S. 331 Business in Freeport. The shelter will not accept pets, other than service animals, and other arrangements should be made.



3. Walton County Schools will be closed on Thursday, September 1st and Friday, September 2nd. At this time, all extracurricular activities have been cancelled for Thursday, September 1st. A decision about extracurricular activities on Friday, September 2nd will be made at a later date as the storm is monitored.


4. All Walton County Government Offices will be open on Thursday, September 1st. Decisions on possible governmental office closings will be made at a later time as we continue to monitor the storm.



5. The Walton County Design Review Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 1st has been cancelled.



6. The beaches of Walton County are currently under red flag conditions. Red flags relay that the beach is a high hazard area and that rip currents, high surf, strong currents and or other hazardous situations exist.
It is anticipated that as the storm arrives, Double Red Flags will be posted symbolizing that the waters are closed to the public.



7. Walton County Public Works has one location open for sandbags at the Blue Mountain Pit-1002 83S. (Old Blue Mountain Road). It is open from 6:00am until 4:30pm. There is a limit of 25 sandbags per household. Please bring your own shovel.



8. The Walton County Emergency Operations Center will upgrade Level 2 - Partial Activation beginning at 6:00am on Thursday, September 1st

For important update, please monitor the Walton County Emergency Management Page on Facebook at Walton County Emergency Management | Facebook. Users do not have to be members of Facebook or have an active account to view the page.

IMPORTANT WEATHER INFORMATION FOLLOWS:


* At 5pm EDT Wednesday, the center of Tropical Storm Hermine was located about 335 miles south of Pensacola, or approximately 350 miles west of Naples, Florida.
* After a slow north movement today, the storm is now moving north-northeast around 7mph. This motion is expected to continue along with a faster forward movement tonight and Thursday.
* Maximum sustained winds have increased to 45 mph with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 36 hours and could be near hurricane strength just prior to landfall.
* Walton County could start receiving sustained winds of approximately 45 mph beginning at 5:00pm on Thursday, September 1st and receive approximately 5 inches of rain.
* It is important to understand that projected impacts could change based upon the actual track of the storm.
 
In advance of the storm, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a State of Emergency to help 42 counties prepare. NFL officials moved the preseason game at Tampa Bay to Wednesday instead of Thursday to avoid complications from severe weather.

The Governor's order also allows patients to refill their medications early in the affected counties.

A mandatory evacuation notice has been issued for Franklin County, located along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on the Florida Panhandle. Mandatory evacuations were also ordered for low lying areas and mobile homes in Zone A in Walton County.

Late Wednesday night, the National Hurricane Center issued Hurricane Warnings from the mouth of the Suwanee River to Mexico Beach in Bay County.

The storm will unload a general 4-8 inches of rain with locally 12 inches possible. This rainfall is enough to cause urban and low-lying area flooding.

At 1000 PM CDT (0300 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Hermine was located near latitude 25.8 North, longitude 87.0 West. Hermine is moving toward the north-northeast near 10 mph (17 km/h) and this motion with an increase in forward speed is expected to continue through Thursday. On the forecast track, the center will be near the coast in the warning area Thursday night.

Recent reports from NOAA and Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 60 mph (95 km/h) with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 24 to 36 hours, and Hermine is expected to be a hurricane by the time landfall occurs. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles (205 km) from the center. The minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is 998 mb (29.47 inches).

In addition to the risk of flooding, locally severe thunderstorms will have the potential to bring damaging wind gusts. Near and shortly after the storm makes landfall, there will be a significant risk of waterspouts and tornadoes being spawned in central and northern Florida.
 
The Walton County Board of County Commissioners, in conjunction with the Walton County Sheriff's Office, Board of Education and other Constitutional Offices has issued a local state of emergency in response to the impending weather event to be caused by Tropical Storm Hermine.

As of September 1st, at 6:30am, Walton County is remains under a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch.

Overnight, the Tropical Storm Hermine did take a move towards the North/Northeast. Due to the move, Walton County is no longer located in the cone of the storm.

The Walton County Emergency Operations Center is currently activated to a Level 2 - Partial Activation which began at 6:00am.

There is a scheduled call with the National Weather Service that will occur this morning at 8:30am CST. Following that call, additional information and updates will be released.

The following still holds true as we continue to operate under a Local State of Emergency.

As part of the local state of emergency, the following actions have been taken:


1. Walton County Emergency Management has issued a mandatory evacuation for all locations that fall within Evacuation Zone A (Low lying coastal areas and manufactured homes/trailer) beginning at 7:00am Thursday, September 1st. To find your locations evacuation zone, please visit Florida DEM Disaster Preparedness Maps.



2. Walton County Emergency Management has opened an Evacuation Shelter for the general population and those with special medical needs. The shelter will be opened at 7:00am on Thursday, September 1st and will be located at Freeport High School at 12615 U.S. 331 Business in Freeport. The shelter will not accept pets, other than service animals, and other arrangements should be made.



3. Walton County Schools will be closed on Thursday, September 1st and Friday, September 2nd. At this time, all extracurricular activities have been cancelled for Thursday, September 1st. A decision about extracurricular activities on Friday, September 2nd will be made at a later date as the storm is monitored.


4. All Walton County Government Offices will be open on Thursday, September 1st. Decisions on possible governmental office closings will be made at a later time as we continue to monitor the storm.



5. The Walton County Design Review Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 1st has been cancelled.



6. The beaches of Walton County are currently under Double Red Flag conditions and the waters are closed to the public.



7. Walton County Public Works has one location open for sandbags at the Blue Mountain Pit-1002 83S. (Old Blue Mountain Road). It is open from 6:00am until 4:30pm. There is a limit of 25 sandbags per household. Please bring your own shovel.
 
Most of my shutters are closed. And outdoor stuff put up.
I'm praying for our friends on Cape San Blas / Mexico Beach / Apalachicola.
 
I don't understand how beachfront owners don't look at that pic and beg for beach nourishment. Isn't it scary to think that even a small direct tropical storm will eat the dune line? Do people not understand how fragile our system has become?
 
Please be advised the current flag condition is Double Red.

The water is closed in Walton County. The flag status will be reevaluated later today. For more information, visit SWFD - BEACH

To ensure the safety of all our visitors and residents, entering the Gulf of Mexico is prohibited.
 
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