Hurricane Hermine is making landfall at the time of this blog post, in the early hours of Friday morning in Florida. Millions of people are in its path, and there are related tornado watches throughout the state through mid-day Friday. A NOAA update at 1:55AM shows 2-3 inches of rain have fallen in Tallahassee, where some 70,000 people are without power already. Flash flooding is reported, and more is expected. Isolated gusts of 45-50mph have been recorded in the first two hours of landfall in the "Big Bend" of Florida's West Coast.
Talk about a fish out of water. John's Pass fish are flowing in the streets #WTSP #Hermine pic.twitter.com/9a2VG9qZFY
— Angela Clooney (@WTSPAngela) September 2, 2016
The "life-threatening hurricane," as NOAA describes it, is the first hurricane to hit the Gulf of Mexico in 3 years. It is the first to make landfall in Florida in over a decade.
0: Number of days since Florida landfalling hurricane
— John Kassell (@JohnKassellWX) September 2, 2016
Hurricane #Hermine update issued. #Hermine makes landfall along the florida coast just east of st. marks. https://t.co/VqHn0u1vgc
— NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) September 2, 2016
#Hermine made landfall at 1:30 AM ET near St. Marks, FL. Severe weather conditions continue, stay indoors! #alert https://t.co/6S7GwLbHOQ
— Florida SERT (@FLSERT) September 2, 2016
From the Tallahassee Democrat extreme weather live-blog:
Tropical storm-force winds and driving rain are pummeling Tallahassee as the edge of the eyewall of Hurricane Hermine brushes by Tallahassee. The National Weather Service clocked a gust at 49 miles per hour. Doak saw an even 50. City crews are no longer out battling the outages becuase of safety concerns. The city when its safe, crews will resume work.
Wowwww Tallahassee… #Hermine. pic.twitter.com/RKUPOKubDW
— Matt Lanza (@mattlanza) September 2, 2016
#Hermine making landfall, coastal flooding escalating as S winds sweep onshore and astronomical high tide approaches pic.twitter.com/AdYGfCIH7n
— Stu Ostro (@StuOstro) September 2, 2016
WOW here comes the surge along the Aucilla River at rim of Apalachee Bay. Water levels up almost 2 feet in an hour. pic.twitter.com/7fYiusE8U4
— Alex Lamers (@AlexJLamers) September 2, 2016
Most power out now on FSU campus. #Hermine pic.twitter.com/R4vNtyyoSW
— Matt Reagan (@reaganmatt) September 2, 2016
Local TV news coverage and national news show remarkable images of storm surges, pounding rain, powerful winds, and early glimpses at the damage.
Now that the storm has made landfall, it will begin to weaken. But as it does so, it will produce heavy rains and high winds. The peak times for various areasx are different, and the storm will dissipate Friday.
This is a particularly bad weekend, because many people are heading out on the highways for Labor Day holiday–but because landfall occurred in the wee hours, many people were indoors. This is a tough hit for the Sunshine State's Panhandle region, but as the storm travels north, it could cause problems all the way up in New Jersey and New York.
St. Petersburg home flooded #hermine #firstalertwx pic.twitter.com/NgSrniD240
— Ashley Hollander (@AshleyANjax) September 1, 2016
Another look outside… #Hermine pic.twitter.com/8Sq2ehYg5c
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) September 1, 2016
We went to go check out a report of trees into homes but main road out is blocked by this tree! #Hermine pic.twitter.com/esVSneGFAA
— Ginger Zee (@Ginger_Zee) September 2, 2016
Updated version of the radar tornado intensity reference guide now available. Download here: https://t.co/sM7xIAV72V pic.twitter.com/E0aa0rxPwf
— Alex Lamers (@AlexJLamers) May 10, 2016
Congresswoman Gwen Graham (D-FL), whose father was governor of Florida during Hurricane Kate 31 years ago, says said she's prepared to ask the federal government to make an emergency declaration for the area affected by Hurricane Hermine, if that is neccesary.
From Bob Henson and Jeff Masters at Weather Underground:
Widespread storm surge was barreling into Florida's northeast Gulf Coast late Thursday night with the approach of Hurricane Hermine. The warm waters of the eastern Gulf fueled an well-advertised strengthening of Hermine on Thursday afternoon and evening. Hermine was an 80-mph Category 1 hurricane as of the midnight update from the National Hurricane Center. NHC placed the center of Hermine about 40 miles southeast of Tallahassee, FL, just an hour or two from making landfall. Thunderstorms were wrapped around a semi-distinct eye, and heavy bands of rain were clearly evident on radar. An especially intense belt of rain was moving across the northernmost FL peninsula late Thursday.
A Hurricane Warning remained in effect from Suwanee River to Mexico Beach, FL. A variety of other hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings plastered the Gulf and Atlantic coasts from Florida all the way to northern New Jersey (see below for more on Hermine's expected track). With Hurricane Gaston also active in the Central Atlantic, we now have multiple hurricanes in the Atlantic for the first time since the first week of September 2012, when Hurricane Leslie and Hurricane Michael were both active. Hermine will be the first hurricane to strike Florida since Wilma hit South Florida as a Category 3 storm in October 2005. Hermine will also be the first hurricane to strike the U.S. since Hurricane Arthur hit North Carolina on July 3, 2014 as a Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds.
Weather Underground is a great source for continuing storm coverage.
Headed inland now, most likely last shots on Alligator Point #Hermine pic.twitter.com/8OzrZ6sefl
— Samuel Roback (@Weathermansam77) September 2, 2016
Waves crashing onto the road near Alligator Point #Hermine pic.twitter.com/rXEpfDVcmO
— Samuel Roback (@Weathermansam77) September 2, 2016
Centralized storm and emergency response information for North Florida: https://t.co/Cmjiiihe6j #hermine #TLHstorm
— Rep. Gwen Graham (@RepGwenGraham) September 2, 2016
Radar image indicates bands of strong winds/rain hitting Florida's Gulf Coast as Hurricane #Hermine nears landfall. pic.twitter.com/j37vSuq3I2
— ABC News (@ABC) September 2, 2016
Looks like Cedar Key, FL has just hit a new all-time record coastal flood with #Hermine.
Current 5.52ft
Prev 5.41ft pic.twitter.com/x6KZx9qYOn— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) September 2, 2016
At full resolution, the 00Z GFS has #Hermine at 975mb for most of that. Stronger than it is now. ? https://t.co/GujEiC1KyE
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) September 2, 2016
It isn't exactly Sandy, but the prolonged period of winds, storm surge & heavy rain is very, very bad 4 Mid Atlantic https://t.co/hghDpYpVJU
— Dan Pope (@weathercaster) September 2, 2016
*huge* area of 20-24" rainfall totals by next Friday on latest (00Z) GFS w/ stalled #Hermine. Hope it stays offshore pic.twitter.com/FLTT2rWvT5
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) September 2, 2016