Tropical Storm Hanna speeds up

Tropical Storm Hanna has finally started moving north with increasing forward speed. AccuWeather reports that she is expected to make landfall late Friday night or early Saturday morning somewhere between Myrtle Beach, SC and Wilmington, NC. From there she will move very quickly up the I-95 corridor dumping copious amounts of rain all the way up to Boston.

The fast pace of Hanna after landfall will prevent rainfall totals from reaching the extreme amounts recently reported from Gustav in the Mississippi Valley. Rain amounts will range from 2 to 4 inches from eastern South Carolina to southern New England this weekend. Up to 8 inches will deluge eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia.

Residents and motorists should be prepared for flash flooding, especially in low-lying and poor drainage areas and along smaller streams. Flood-related watches have been issued.

Flooding from Hanna's storm surge may also become an issue along the coastline of the Carolinas tonight into early Saturday. A surge of 5 to 8 feet above normal water levels is expected near and east of where Hanna comes onshore.

Hanna's sudden increase in northward motiion is due to the fact that the storm has now drifted far enough west that it can get past the high pressure that is located off the coast of the mid-Atlantic states. This high presure system was blocking any northward movement and also contributed shearing winds that resulted in Hanna being downgraded to a tropical storm after reaching hurricane status a few days ago. The clockwise rotation aroung the high will pull Hanna north into the Carolinas and then onward to New England.

This same high pressure system in steering Hurricane Ike towards Florida with an expected curve northward early next week.