Nicole is forming and currently is T.D. 16... East coast watch out...

As I type intense thunderstorms are rapping quickly around T.D. 16, soon to be tropical storm Nicole by tomorrow morning... The storm will pass over cuba before reaching a small body of water between Cuba and Florida where the storm will have its final chance to really attempt at intensifying... As of now most expect top winds to reach only 45 or 50 mph, really pretty minimum tropical storm strength... Seeing though, that the storm will then enter the atlantic ocean again once leaving the extreme southwest coast of florida, there it may try to strengthen a little bit more before making some kind of landfall in the Carolinas and then moving in a due north fashion up the east coast... Doesn't sound like a whole lot of trouble right? WRONG! First off its been raining for two, or for some, 3 days from florida to maine... Since there were drought like conditions in place before that, only minor flooding has taken place... But, tomorrow we can expect that rain to continue and then finally, Thursday will be the day where the east coast will be pounded by potentially 4-8, maybe 10 inches of rain!!!! Flooding, Flooding, Flooding!!!! The current forecast gives a catastrophic like scene up and down the east coast... Probably similar if not worse than what was going on across minnesota last week... I still think winds will be an issue, especially east of the storms center... expect sustained winds to be from 50-60 mph around the carolina landfall where gusts may get in and around 70 mph, and then toward the big Northeast cities, winds ranging from 35-50 mph with gusts probably close to 60 mph... west of the storms center is where the worst flooding will be, but a zone just in between both, may be where the worst of the storm occurs...



-Scott Pecoriello