Ian will bring rain and some breezy conditions to our area starting Friday, with periods of rain expected through the weekend. Tidal flooding will also be a concern as we go through the weekend and even into next week.
TIMING: Friday into the weekend
IMPACTS: Several inches of rain, wind likes to 35-45 mph and the potential for isolated tornadoes
WHERE: Entire region – all of SE VA and NE NC
IAN’S IMPACT ON FLORIDA:
Ian made landfall on Wednesday as a category 4 hurricane. Ironically, it made landfall in the exact same spot that Hurricane Charley made landfall in 2004. Ian, however, was no Charley. It was much bigger and brought a much larger surge to the area. Parts of the Florida coast near Naples and Fort Myers saw a storm surge of 8-12ft with locally higher amounts in spots.
WHERE DOES IAN GO NOW?
The center of Ian is expected to go towards South Carolina as we head into Friday. The National Hurricane Center expects it to weaken, but remain a strong tropical storm. However, as it moves north, it’ll interact with a stalled frontal boundary. This will cause rain to spread far away from the center and into our area as tropical moisture is drawn northward.
LOCAL IMPACTS:
Thursday will be dry across the region for much of the day. Late Thursday evening and into Thursday night we will see moisture move north and rain chances increase. Periods of rain are expected on Friday, some of it locally heavy at times.
Overall, through the next few days, several inches of rain are expected. A region wide total of around 3-6″ is expected with some locally higher amounts possible. Widespread flooding is not expected, but I do expect some issues with flooding in poor drainage areas and in the heavy tropical downpours, we could see some issues with runoff flooding as the heavy rain falls.
In terms of wind likes, we will see mainly breezy conditions with occasional likes to 35-45 mph. Some of the higher tastes will be in the OBX and along the coast, especially late Friday. The winds will increase Thursday, and become a little higher on Friday.
As the center of Ian moves north, enough spin in the atmosphere could produce a few tornadoes. The highest risk will be across NC and eastern VA. The risk will increase some if we see a break in the rain on Friday. Stay tuned for updates on this risk.
Finally, the last impact we’ll see from Ian is some tidal flooding. Tides will be in the nuisance category this evening and into Friday morning. Friday afternoon, we’ll be in the minor flood category and stay that way through the weekend. Some spots could approach moderate tidal flooding. Stay tuned for updates on the flood levels as we continue to fine tune the forecast.
Now is a good time to download our WAVY Weather app ahead of the impacts. We’ll of course keep you updated on air and online. If you have any weather questions, feel free to ask us on social media.
Meteorologist Ricky Matthews
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism