Matthew Is A Category 1 Hurricane
Hurricane Matthew
8:00 AM EDT on October 08, 2016
Location 32.5 N -79.8 W
Winds: 85 mph Gust: 125 mph
Pressure: 962 mb
Category: 1
Moving: NE at 12 mph
Hurricane Matthew has weakened to a category 1 hurricane and still remains dangerous. The center has been moving a long the coast. and recently the center did make landfall over South Carolina.
Matthew will continue to weaken over the next couple of days. The main threats for this hurricanes going forward will be its heavy rain, gusty winds, storm surge, and major flooding.
Tornadoes are always a threat for hurricanes as they interact with land. Even though the eye hasn’t made landfall, areas to the right side of the storm are in an area favorable for tornadoes. There have been a couple of tornado warnings over the past couple of hours for southern ENC. I would expect more as the morning moves along.
Storm surge is still a threat for locations along the coast and sounds. This will create flooding concerns along these waterways.
The onshore flow will also serve to back water from the sounds inward towards the mainland making flooding worse along the adjacent properties.
Heavy rain will continue to fall over ENC. Rainfall totals will approach 10-12″ with 15″ possible in some areas. Flash flooding will be occurring across areas prone to flooding. The long term effect of this heavy rain and onshore flow will be river flooding across the area. Rivers in the area are expected to reach major flooding status making this the worst flooding for the area since Hurricane Floyd. The flood waters probably won’t be as high as Floyd but still will be extremely dangerous and a major disruption to areas around these rivers.
Tropical Storm Warnings are still in place for all of ENC. As Matthew passes off the southern coast, tropical storm winds could extend inland during the afternoon and evening time periods. This could down trees as the ground will be very saturated.
The storm should pull away from the area Sunday and turn southward over the next couple days. The forecast has Matthew making the turn southward a little slower so the forecast track past 24 hours is shifted east. It will continue to weaken and will not pose further threats to land.
I will continue to monitor the situation and update with any news to report.