September 15, 2020
With the 10 p.m. advisory, the track for Hurricane Sally shifted again, brining a Category 1 hurricane directly through Escambia County on Wednesday.
At 10 p.m. the center of Hurricane Sally was located about 60 miles southwest of Pensacola with maximum sustained winds up to 90 mph. Landfall is forecast for about 7 a.m. Wednesday in the area of Orange Beach, Alabama, or Perdido Key, Florida.
In Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, a hurricane warning, flash flood watch and tornado watch continue. In Escambia County, Alabama, there is an inland tropical storm warning. Hurricane conditions are expected to begin within the hurricane warning area this evening. Tropical storm conditions are already occurring in portions of the warning areas, and will continue through Wednesday night.
Sally was moving to the north-northeast near 2 mph.
A north-northeastward to northeastward motion at a slightly faster forward speed is expected on Wednesday and Wednesday night, followed by a faster northeastward motion on Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of Sally will approach the northern Gulf Coast tonight, and make landfall in the hurricane warning area early Wednesday. Sally is expected to move inland across southeastern Alabama Wednesday night and Thursday.
Some strengthening is possible before landfall, and Sally is expected to be a dangerous hurricane when it makes landfall.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles.
Sally is forecast to produce 10 to 20 inches of rainfall with isolated amounts of 30 inches in the Escambia County area. Historic life-threatening flash flooding is likely. In addition, this rainfall will lead to widespread moderate to major flooding on area rivers, including the Escambia and Perdido rivers.
Category 1 winds are possible in the hurricane warned area, including inland areas. This will result in many downed trees and power lines, considerable roof damage to structures, and damage to mobile homes.
A few tornadoes may occur this evening through Wednesday across portions of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama.
NorthEscambia.com will update this story, and the graphics on this page will continually update with the latest information from the National Hurricane Center.
The latest specific information is in the graphics on this page.
.
Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under TOP STORIES
