MACON, Ga. — As of the newest 8 AM update from the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Depression Four still sits over the south central portion of Cuba, and is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm later today or tonight as it moves towards the Gulf of Mexico.
Latest forecast tracks continue to increase in certainty in landfall around the Big Bend region of Florida, and the National Hurricane Center has issued tropical storm and storm surge watches and warnings, as well as hurricane watches in these regions. Landfall is still expected sometime Sunday night into Monday morning, and the system then looks to cross into the southeastern corner of Georgia. Uncertainty increases once we reach this stage.
Models have been hinting that the storm will move into inland Georgia, increasing the chances that Central Georgia will face some impacts from the storm. As of right now, the FUTUREVIEW GRAF model, has the storm clip our southeastern counties on Monday afternoon. If this is the case, flooding will be our main concern.
Once the storm heads towards the Atlantic, some models indicate a possible "loop around" back into South Carolina and Georgia. As of this morning, models are beginning to have better agreement towards this "loop around" back towards Georgia. This could increase the chances for flooding here in central Georgia in the later portion of this week, but again this track remains uncertain and is subject to change as this storm progresses.
With still a good amount of uncertainty just a couple days out, it will be very important to stay updated with us and keep an eye on the forecast as it can change very quickly.
As Beryl made its way into Texas and into the eastern United States, Tropical Depression Chris briefly popped up off the Gulf Coast of Mexico for the third-named storm of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
The next available name on the list would be Debby.
