Fay...A Fascinating Storm

As a meteorologist, I must say that Fay is the most interesting tropical storm I have ever forecast for (okay, so that gives away my age somewhat…oh well!). Before I get into what this storm has been so intriguing, let me give you a brief timeline.

Tropical Storm Fay, the sixth storm of the 2008 hurricane season, developed on Friday August 15th about 35 miles east of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Over the weekend, it brought heavy rains to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. As it moved over the southern side of Cuba, it was projected to weaken, but Fay actually strengthened.

On Monday, August 18th (this past Monday), the system made its first landfall in the Florida Keys.

The system then made its second landfall on the southwest coast of Florida just south of Naples. At this point, the storm had 60 mph winds along with torrential rain!

Fay’s third landfall was on Thursday, August 21st, near Flagler Beach.

Fay’s fourth landfall was near Apalachicola, Florida early Saturday morning.

Now that you have a brief timeline, I want to talk about some of the reasons why this storm is so amazing.

1. The storm didn’t weaken much as it moved along the south side of Cuba nor did it weaken when it moved through the mountainous terrain in the western part of the country.
2. After making its second landfall near Naples, the system continued moving northeast across the state. When hurricanes move over land, they lose their fuel (the warm ocean water) and it’s usually just a matter of time before they weaken. But not Fay…oh no! It actually intensified and developed what looked like an eye to me and most other meteorologists out there. This just blew our minds, because it’s the opposite of what we expect.
3. Fay made four landfalls across the Sunshine State. The only storm to come close to this was Donna in 1960 with three landfalls across the state. So this statistic alone makes Fay fascinating.

From a meteorological point of view, Fay has been captivating to watch, but it has shown no mercy to those in its path.

Rainfall totals varied across the state of Florida. Some of the higher totals that I have seen at this point are between 20-30 inches! So there is no doubt about it, Fay has been a soaker!

Fay has also produced 15 tornadoes so far: 4 on Monday, 5 on Tuesday, 6 on Friday and 4 on Saturday.

As of 11pm Saturday night, Fay has been downgraded to a tropical depression. The slow-moving system will still bring heavy rain to Southern Georgia, Southern Alabama and parts of Mississippi tomorrow as it moves off to the west/northwest. And it looks like the heavy rain and flooding could continue for several days with this system. And guess what? Some of the forecast models have the remnants of Fay swinging around early next week and heading toward the Tennessee valley and the Carolinas. This could combine with a cold front and bring us an even better chance for rain and storms then we would expect with just the front. Does Fay think it’s the Energizer bunny or what??