Tropical Storm Fred to soon make landfall in FL as Hurricane Center keeps watch on 2 other storms

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — The National Hurricane Center is now watching three different systems in the Atlantic, with one set to make landfall in the US in the coming hours.

As of Monday morning, Tropical Storm Fred was located 160 miles south of Panama City, Florida. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and is moving north at just 9 miles per hour.

Fred is expected to continue heading north at about that speed. Forecasters said it could speed up a little bit before it makes landfall on the Florida Panhandle later Monday night.

Fred will bring heavy rainfall and dangerous storm surge over the next 48 hours in the Florida Panhandle.

After landfall, Fred will weaken as it moves north through Alabama and Mississippi. The storm will reach the North Carolina-Tennessee border Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Fred will be significantly weakened when it arrives in the North Carolina mountains, but it will still be capable of dumping heavy rainfall.

Some areas in the mountains could see as much as 5 inches of rain. The Piedmont and Triangle areas could see as much as an inch, typically decreasing farther east.

Grace

Grace weakened Sunday into a tropical depression.
As of Monday morning, Grace was located about 160 miles east-southeast of Haiti. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour and is moving west at 15 miles per hour.

SEE ALSO: Haiti death toll of magnitude 7.2 earthquake soars to 1,297 as tropical storm approaches

Grace’s forecast track keeps the system headed west, sticking south of Cuba, pushing into the Gulf of Mexico and eventually hitting Mexico or southern Texas this weekend.

When Grace moves into the Gulf, it could strengthen back into a tropical storm.

Tropical Depression Eight

Tropical Depression Eight is developing in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda.
This system will make a slow clockwise turn toward the southwest in the next couple of days.

Early forecast models for this system are quite varied. However, none push the system into North Carolina. Most keep it circling around Bermuda until it pushes off toward the northeast.

2021 Hurricane Season

The busiest part of the hurricane season remains ahead of us. The NOAA recently said the hurricane season “shows no signs of slowing,” and even updated its prediction from 13-20 named storms to 15-21.