Now Tropical Storm Debby headed back to Atlantic before targeting Carolinas

Tropical Storm Debby moved over Georgia overnight and is forecast to slide back into the Atlantic before heading back on shore in the Carolinas, the National Hurricane Center said.

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, the center of Debby was located about 20 miles southwest of Savannah, Georgia and 105 miles southwest of Charleston, South Carolina with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as it moves northeast at 6 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend out 205 miles, mostly to the east of the storm.

“A slow motion toward the east and then north is expected through Thursday night,” said NHC senior hurricane specialist Richard Pasch. “On the forecast track, the center of Debby is expected to move offshore the coast of Georgia later today, drift offshore through early Thursday, and then move inland over South Carolina on Thursday.”

The storm came ashore as Category 1 Hurricane Debby with sustained winds of 80 mph on Monday morning near Steinhatchee, Florida in the state’s Big Bend region before slowing down and dropping torrents of rain as it made its way across North Florida into Georgia.

“Debby is expected to produce potentially historic rainfall totals of 10 to 20 inches, with maximum amounts of 25 inches, bringing areas of catastrophic flooding across portions of southeast Georgia, the eastern half of South Carolina, and southeast North Carolina through Friday,” Pasch said.

Florida, which already endured flooding rains as it passed s expected to get another 1-2 inches across portions of the peninsula today still with some areas getting up to another 4 inches.

Northern North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic states could get 4 to 8 inches of rain with some areas getting 12 inches through Sunday morning.

“This rainfall will likely result in areas of considerable flash and urban flooding, with river flooding possible,” Pasch said.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Altamaha Sound, Georgia to Little River Inlet, South Carolina with a tropical storm watch from north of Little River Inlet, South Carolina to Surf City, North Carolina. A storm surge warning is in effect from Altamaha Sound, Georgia to South Santee River, South Carolina and storm surge watch from North of South Santee River, South Carolina to Cape Fear, North Carolina.

“Tropical storm conditions are expected over portions of the tropical storm warning area along the Georgia coast through this morning,” Pasch said. “Tropical storm conditions are expected to continue along the coast of South Carolina within the tropical storm warning area through Thursday night. Tropical storm conditions are possible within the tropical storm watch area in North Carolina beginning Wednesday night.”

The NHC is also continuing to track a system in the Caribbean with a low chance to form into the season’s next tropical depression or storm.

The area associated with a tropical wave with showers and thunderstorms is moving across the east-central Caribbean Sea.

“Any development of this system should be slow to occur during the next couple of days while it moves westward over the central Caribbean Sea,” forecasters said. “Environmental conditions are expected to become more conducive for development later this week as the system moves across the western Caribbean Sea or the southern Gulf of Mexico.”

The NHC gives the system a 10% chance of developing in the next two days and 30% in the next seven.

If it were to become a named system, it could become Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Hurricane Debby was the second hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season and fourth named system overall. It was also the fourth hurricane to hit Florida since 2000 in the month of August following 2004’s Hurricane Charley, 2005’s Katrina and last year’s Hurricane Idalia, which struck just 15 miles north of where Debby made landfall.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Monday that four deaths were reported as storm-related in the state while storm-surge flooded coastal cities from Southwest Florida up to the Panhandle as Debby slogged its way north over the weekend and into Monday.

The state has been recovering from a high of about 300,000 customers without power. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, just over 110,000 remain without power, according to poweroutage.us.

Hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30.

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