Debby Leaves Heavy Rainfall Totals But Causes No Serious Damage Locally

The Ridge area and southeastern Polk generally escaped damage during the passage of Hurricane Debby to the west of the peninsula, but the tropics remain active, with yet another disturbance following in the path of the recent storm.

Courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

As Hurricane Debby, now downgraded to a Tropical Storm, drifts away from our area, attention is drawn to other potential systems that could affect Florida. An area of disturbed weather in the Caribbean is the next potential disruptor.

Unlike areas along the coast that saw serious flooding from both heavy rains and storm surge, the local area generally avoided problems with high water. Rainfall totals across the area generally fell in the six-to-eight inch category during the past five days, leaving the ground saturated. The total at the Lake Wales News weather station reached the 5.8" mark.

Winds in the local area peaked at less than 40 miles per hour, under tropical storm strength. Other than a few downed limbs and brief power outages there were no impacts.

Water levels are high in the Peace Creek drainage basin west of Lake Wales, and additional standing water is slowly draining into that system. The Peace River will eventually receive that water, and levels there are steadily rising, although remaining below flood stage at this time.

Debby caused chaos in numerous parts of Florida as it slid northward along the Gulf coast. Bradenton and Live Oak were among communities that saw catastrophic flooding of homes and businesses. The storm has since drifted to the coastal area of Georgia, where it is expected to linger, keeping the threat of more flooding very high.

Meanwhile, forecasters are keeping an eye on an area of disturbed weather associated with a tropical wave westward moving across the Caribbean. Conditions are expected to become more favorable for development when it reaches the western Caribbean or the southern Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters give it a 30% chance of development at that time.

The Hurricane Season normally peaks in early September, Abnormally high water temperatures in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic basin generally have climatologists worried about the potential for numerous and very strong storms this year.