Alberto brings beneficial rains, modest damage

Alberto made landfall at 12:45pm Tuesday near Adams Beach, Florida, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Tallahassee. Alberto had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph at landfall, and brought a storm surge of up to 5 feet near Cedar Key. No major flooding damage has been reported, however. Power outages to 21,000 people have occurred, and tree damage appears to be the predominant problem from the storm. No tornadoes have occurred today in Florida, but there have been several tornado reports from Georgia and South Carolina, including a report of a tornado on the ground at Beaufort Marine Base in South Carolina.

Alberto will weaken to a tropical depression as it crosses Georgia tonight. The storm will likely be declared extratropical on Wednesday, when it emerges into the Atlantic Ocean. The remains of Alberto should then reintensify some as a non-tropical low pressure system over the open Atlantic Ocean, where it will only be of concern to shipping.


Figure 1. Total rain from Alberto estimated by Doppler radar.

It appears now that Alberto may save millions of dollars in agricultural losses and firefighting expenses due to the heavy rains it has brought to drought-parched Florida. Several of the over 100 fires burning in Florida have already been extinguished by Alberto's rains.

Tomorrow, I'll analyze Alberto's sudden burst of intensification Monday morning, and report on what the rest of June may hold for us. It could be an exceptionally active June.

Jeff Masters