Stormy Weekend Ahead

This from tbo.com

By Neil Johnson
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - A strong line of squalls at the vanguard of a cold front could bring strong thunderstorms, wind gusts near hurricane strength and possible coastal flooding early Sunday morning.

The squall line could sweep across Florida sometime between midnight Saturday and dawn on Sunday with damaging winds and the threat of tornadoes, National Weather Service meteorologist Barry Goldsmith said.

“This is a very potent system,” he said.

Wind gusts could top 70 mph over a wide area as the squalls pass. Goldsmith said people should pick up loose objects around their yards Saturday.

Even after the train of thunderstorms clears the Tampa Bay area on Sunday morning, winds will pick up as the trailing front moves in. Forecasts call for sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts over 40 mph.

They will be stronger near the coast with gusts reaching 45 mph or higher, Goldsmith said.

“The squall line will go through, then there will be a lull with winds about 10 to 15 mph, then around noon they’ll pick up,” he said.

Winds moving ahead of the squall line could cause 1 to 2 feet of coastal flooding but as the squalls move ashore, flooding could increase.

The severity of the flooding will depend on whether the storms arrive with a rising tide. If so, Goldsmith said, there could be moderate coastal flooding or worse.

The threat of tornadoes will increase to the north of the Tampa Bay area into Sumter, Citrus and Levy but the thunderstorms in the squall line could spawn tornadoes anyplace.

“There will be damage from this one, we just can’t say where or what,” Goldsmith said.

Anyone going to the beach on Saturday should watch for rip currents to develop after noon as winds pick up.

“It will be a nice, sunny day. That can fool people,” Goldsmith said.

Great. The possibility of more tornado's, more damage, more people with damaged homes or no homes at all, insurance rate hikes, price gouging, and you know gas prices are going to go up. If the president of some 3rd world country farts...... gas prices go up. Hopefully when I fly out tomorrow I wont be leaving my house in shambles. Actually if my house was in shambles I would not be leaving town.