"God caused a wind to pass over the earth and the waters receded. The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven had been closed and the rain had stopped falling from the sky." --- Genesis 8:1 Floyd's reign nearing the end. Gert turning away from the Lesser Antilles. FLOYD: Floyd made landfall near Cape Fear at about 2:30am EST on 9/16. Since then, incredible flash floods have affected millions of people along the eastern seaboard. The storm has passed over Wilmington, Norfolk, Atlantic City, New York City, and Boston... and the damage totals have yet to come in (the damage isn't finished being caused yet). There were 15 reported tornadoes in association with Floyd, all in eastern North Carolina. The rains have ceased over much of the land that was rained on for the past 36 hours, and TS Floyd is now in eastern New England preparing to make his final exit. Heavy rains are still over NY, VT, NH, and ME, but that list is MUCH shorter than the one I was mentioned last night! At 03Z on 9/17, TS Floyd was located at 41.7N 72.2W (Norwich, CT) and moving to the northeast rapidly at 35mph. The maximum sustaned winds are still 60mph and the pressure has risen to 980mb. The storm will be out of sight by tomorrow afternoon as it exits the US and becomes extratropical. Rainfall amounts from Floyd are very high (24"+ ?) in several regions along the coast. Unfortunately, I don't have accurate totals yet, but when I find out some estimates, I'll pass them along with any new eyewitness accounts. That's all I will say about Floyd... I promised to keep the update brief because of the reports I sent out... I won't be able to add anything more informative than those (I wasn't there!). More reports may follow in the coming day(s), but if not, then this is it for Floyd coverage. Thanks to everyone who provided me with near-real-time updates, it's a great trade for my updates to you. GERT: Gert now a CAT3 hurricane, but will seemingly affect no one as she gets tossed out into the open Atlantic. At 03Z on 9/17, Gert's max winds were 130mph and MSLP was 941mb. She was located at 19.4N 54.6W and tracking WNW at 10mph. The motion should become more NW within the next few days. Current SST's are 29C and a steady intensity is forecast. The only possible threat is to Bermuda on early Tuesday morning. The storm could make it there as a CAT3... more on this potential impact as the time gets closer. Brian The next update will be if something significant happens to Gert, or if a new system forms. No more updates will be issued for Floyd, but more personal accounts of Floyd's impact from eyewitnesses may follow the ones today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian D. McNoldy Colorado State University Dept. of Atmospheric Science Fort Collins, CO 80523-1371 Phone: (970) 491-8398 Fax: (970) 491-8449 E-mail: mcnoldy@CIRA.colostate.edu URL: http://thor.cira.colostate.edu/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Don't drink and derive."