Tropical Storm Imelda is likely to form during the day Saturday or into early Sunday and track north just of the Florida coast, according to National Hurricane Center forecasts.
Imelda is predicted to eventually intensify into a hurricane, but whether and where it makes landfall remains uncertain. Some computer forecasting models show a landfall somewhere along the coasts of Georgia or the Carolinas, but others show Imelda being tugged east before landfall by the much larger and nearby Category 4 Hurricane Humberto.
In either case, heavy rainfall is expected to cause dangerous flooding along the coast. How far inland that rainfall pushes will depend on the track of the storm. Here’s the latest forecast track:
Spaghetti models on Saturday morning seemed to be leaning toward Imelda slowing or even stalling before landfall, but others continue to show landfall, most likely in South Carolina. Here’s what the spaghetti models show:
Spaghetti models on Saturday morning show the range of possible tracks for a system that may become Tropical Storm Imelda over the next few days. The darker reds indicate more confidence in the track while lighter greens and blues indicate less confidence. (Courtesy Tomer Burg, polarwx.com)
