Tropical Depression Fred to drench Appalachians, increasing flooding threat.
A few tornadoes are also possible from Fred’s remnants; meanwhile Grace is pulling away from Haiti while Henri swirls over the open Atlantic.
Tropical Storm Fred made landfall southeast of Panama City, Fla., on Monday, packing 65-mph winds and a minor ocean surge as the moisture-loaded storm roared ashore. Since then, Fred has weakened into a tropical depression, but it continues to bring the chance of heavy rain, flooding and isolated tornadoes to parts of the Southeast, Appalachians and interior Mid-Atlantic.
Fred is one of three named tropical systems found swirling through the Atlantic to kick off the workweek. Grace, a tropical storm centered just north of Jamaica, is drifting toward the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico after drenching earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Meanwhile Henri, a younger but more potent storm, is tracing a broad loop over the open ocean south of Bermuda.
There are also growing signs that hurricane activity may ramp up even further later in the month thanks to overlapping large-scale atmospheric features favorable for tropical development. We’re approaching the peak of hurricane season anyway, which historically crests in mid-September, and the occasion seldom passes without unwelcome meteorological fanfare.
Fred became the fourth named Atlantic storm to make landfall in the Lower 48 so far this year, joining Claudette, Danny and Elsa.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/08/17/fred-appalachians-flooding-tornadoes-grace/?
