Update from your Walton County TDC Oct. 4, 2013 Time: 10:00 a.m. There is still great uncertainty as to the strength and track of this system. At this time, the EOC remains at Level 3- monitoring Summary: •At 8AM, Tropical Storm Karen was located about 445 Miles South-southwest of the Mouth of Mississippi River which is approximately 538 miles south-southwest of Pensacola, Florida. •Karen is forecast to slow down in foreword speed later today with a turn toward the north, before making a sharp turn to the northeast on Saturday before landfall late Saturday/early Sunday. •Maximum sustained winds are at 60 mph with higher gusts. Environmental conditions will promote some strengthening over the next day or two and there is a 23% chance that this system could become a hurricane 1AM on Sunday. •The track of this system will depend on the timing of a frontal boundary which is expected to descend into our area. Models have become more uncertain, and solutions suggest a possible landfall anywhere between Gulf County in Florida and New Orleans, but the majority of solutions place a landfall near Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwest Florida. •The official forecast from the National Hurricane Center indicates that this system will continue to drift north-northwestward and maintain relatively the same strength. Slight strengthening to a 70 mph TS is forecast by the time of landfall. More information and current weather alerts may be found on the “Walton Alert” facebook/WaltonALERT
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 17:50:47 +0000