Fay Not Weakening As She Travels Through Florida
At 2 PM, Tropical Storm Fay was located near Lakeport, Florida, about 25 miles southwest of Lake Okeechobee. The storm made landfall near Cape Romano, 55 miles south of Fort Myers around 5 this morning, and has been moving northeast across the Sunshine state. She is expected to move back out into the Atlantic sometime overnight. Here’s a satellite image of Fay taken at 10:15 this morning, with a distinctive eye feature:
The interesting thing is that contrary to forecasters’ predictions, Fay is gaining in strength and intensity as she moves across land. Estimated winds have increased from 60 to 65 MPH, and minimum pressure has dropped from 29.21 inches to 29.12 inches of mercury. These two indicators, plus the presence of an eyewall show there might be more to Fay than was originally thought, and that despite the morning forecast track taking her along the Georgia-Florida border into Alabama, there might be enough strength to keep her out to sea longer, and make an approach closer to the Atlanta area.
We’ll have to see what happens to the intensity of the storm as it continues to move north, and if the predicted path changes again at the next update, due around 5 PM.
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