As Hurricane Rafael plows through the Caribbean into Cuba, forecasters say parts of north Florida could see “non-direct impacts,” including localized flooding, hazardous boating, rip currents, high surf – and up to 10 inches of rain.
Heavy rain is forecast tonight and into Thursday across the Southeast and Florida Panhandle as the result of an interaction between a trough over the region and a broad area of disturbed weather across the tropics that includes the newly-minted Category 3 hurricane, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center. The hurricane is expected to fuel the system with more moisture from the tropics.
The potential exists for 4-8 inches of rain, with up to 10 inches of rain in isolated locations across the Florida Panhandle, and potentially more than 8 inches of rain in locations extending northeastward into the South Carolina Low Country overnight Wednesday and into Thursday, according to the center’s latest excessive rainfall outlook…