Not a good time to be in the Bahamas

[Chris Plumb]

Joaquin...is upto a Cat 4.

 

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html

 

C.

[Newt]

Cat4 and moving very slowly - I'd say it was somewhere around horrible to be there right now and not likely to get better any time soon.

 

As of the latest guess from the National Weather Service, it should track far enough at sea to miss us in South Carolina but the steady onshore winds combined with other weather in the area will cause super heavy rain and flooding even though we are over 200 miles inshore. Best estimate is 15+ inches (38 cm) over the weekend.

 

We are going fishing in Florida next week but it surely looks like the first several hundred miles of the drive south won't be much fun. We are at the northern edge of SC and the rain won't slack up until we get a few miles into Georgia.

[chesters1]

[Newt]

Several of the islands endured winds over 125 mph for over 24 hours. I can't even imagine that.

[Ken L]

Hope Newt is on high ground:

Severe flooding likely in South Carolina Saturday and Sunday
As expected, a band of torrential rain has materialized over South Carolina, paving the way for an especially dangerous situation from Saturday afternoon into Sunday. As of midday Saturday, the heaviest rain extended from the south half of the South Carolina coastline northwest across the state to the hilly Uplands region. The swath of intense rain will pivot very slowly in a counterclockwise direction, gradually translating southward over the higher terrain but moving very little near the coastline. This will put the area around Charleston at particular risk of severe flash flooding from Saturday afternoon into Sunday. CoCoRaHS maps show widespread rain totals of 4” - 8” in the Charleston area from 7:00 am EDT Friday to 7:00 am Saturday.

[Chris Plumb]

Now has its sights on Bermuda...

 

C.

[Chris Plumb]

Might get lively here early next week...

 

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/145843.shtml?5-daynl#contents

 

BTW have we heard from Newt recently - parts of NC have had a 1000 year rain event in the last week - hope he's OK?

 

C.

[Ken L]

I heard the 1000 year comment and laughed out loud when 30 seconds later when it was stated that the rivers were at their highest level since 1937.

[Steve Walker]

Mrs was pulling a bit of a face because she wanted to go on holiday this month and I said I had too much work on. For a hot beach holiday this time of year that isn't too long haul or mega-expensive and where you won't get your head chopped off, it was looking like the Caribbean and I did point out that anyway it is hurricane season... Trying not to look too smug about that.

[Newt]

We have a week's fishing in Florida and left SC a couple days ahead of the start of the rain just in case it got bad. It got bad with some areas getting over 27 inches of rain from Saturday through Monday.

 

The "thousand year rain" didn't even come close since it was set for 14 inches. I don't think they've put a name to what actually happened. A google search for "Charleston SC news" or "Columbia SC news" will get you all sorts of photos & info.

 

Our home was some miles north of the really bad rain - only got about 6 inches over the weekend - so no flooding but a section of Interstate 95 is still closed due to flooding and bridge damage. Hopefully it will be open when we head home Saturday. Meanwhile, the inshore fishing in the mangrove swamp is good. We had a good day Monday fishing with shrimp on very light tackle for whatever would bite. Tomorrow is targeting red fish then another "anything" day on Friday. These days we both like a day off between fishing days.