Andrea's landfall and forecast

Andrea made landfall on Thursday at 5:40pm EDT near Cedar Key, FL as a tropical storm with 55kt (65mph) sustained winds.

Radar and satellite view of Tropical Storm Andrea as it was making landfall in northern Florida (2140 UTC).  Potent rainbands extended through southern Florida and even into Cuba and as far north as North Carolina.

There was some minor storm surge flooding along the western Florida peninsula -- from the Fort Meyers area up to around Cedar Key -- but generally in the 2-4' range, as predicted.  Heavy rain fell across the Florida peninsula and up into Georgia and South Carolina, and approximately 15 tornadoes have been reported in association with Andrea so far.

Observed rainfall and reported tornadoes (inset) during the Wednesday-Thursday period.

On the topic of tornadoes, I thought I'd also share with you a nice article by Doug Main at LiveScience.com... we chatted on the phone for a while on Thursday, and he conducted a very thorough interview on the topic of tornadoes in hurricanes.  You can find the article here: 
How Tropical Storm Andrea Is Spinning Up Tornadoes

Today, Andrea is racing up the east coast and will bring with it heavy rain, the threat of tornadoes (particularly from North Carolina up to the Delmarva peninsula), and some moderate winds.  The strongest winds (30-40mph) will be in eastern SC and NC, then much weaker further up the coast.  Rainfall totals of 2-4" should be common from coastal Virginia to Massachusetts and extending inland a couple hundred miles... local totals could certainly be higher.  Today's storm surge concern areas are the Delaware Bay, Lower Bay, Long Island Sound, and the entire southern coast of MA.  Check the NWS website for specific forecasts and warnings for your area.

As of 8am EDT today, Andrea is a tropical storm with 45mph sustained winds and centered near Charleston, SC.  It is zipping quickly to the northeast at almost 30mph.  All of the rain associated with the storm is to the north of the center.  Check out my extended radar loops of the storm too... I added one that covers the northeast US today!

Radar (colors), satellite (grays), and track (green symbols with gray dotted line) for Andrea as of 8am EDT today.  Note the huge cloud field to the north of the current center (the TS marker).

One week ago, I first introduced the easterly wave that exited Africa (which, by the way, is quite unusual for early June)... well, it is still out there at around 50W, gradually making the trek westward, but has been embedded in a hostile environment and has not been able to develop much.  It continues to struggle, but is still trackable.  I will keep an eye on it of course, but just wanted to mention it again for continuity.  It is of no concern in the foreseeable future.

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