Gabrielle teases North Carolina
The drought across the Carolinas this summer has been especially bad in North Carolina, where much of the state remains in extreme drought (the red shade on the map below). While it has been dry in South Carolina as well, many places to the north are measuring the 2007 rainfall deficit in feet. Some people have been looking toward the tropics for relief from the drought, and that relief almost came this past weekend. Tropical Storm Gabrielle finally formed Friday night about 500 miles off the coast, and was heading toward land. While chances were small that the storm would affect South Carolina, it looked like North Carolina would get a much needed drink of water.
The storm system that would become Gabrielle battled strong upper level winds all week long. Each time a cluster of thunderstorms developed near the center of the storm, they were quickly blown away, or torn apart by the wind shear. The storm was able to overcome those strong winds Friday night, and earn a name, but the wind shear never went away, and was what eventually doomed the storm. Gabrielle made landfall Sunday afternoon on the Outer Banks, and maintained 45-50 mph winds and tropical storm status over land, but as soon as the storm hit the ocean again, it quickly fell apart... mainly because of the wind shear. The same wind shear that slowed development, kept the storm from strengthening, and eventually destroyed the storm also kept much of the moisture from the storm over the ocean. The Outer Banks saw the wind and waves, but generally less than an inch of rain. Not much rain made it west of the Sounds, so the areas that needed the rain most saw hardly a drop. The only part of North Carolina that saw tropical storm style rain was Cape Lookout, where some places saw over 8 inches of rain. Here are some of the rainfall totals:
Harlowe (Cocorahs)... ... 8.60 inches
6 mi north Beaufort... ... 8.30 inches
Beaufort... ... ... ... 7.43 inches
Morehead City... ... ... ... 7.07 inches
Morehead City... ... ... ... 6.93 inches
Newport... ... ... ... 5.36 inches
Cherry Point... ... ... 4.52 inches
Indian Beach... ... ... ... 2.19 inches
New Bern... ... ... ... 1.89 inches
Perrytown... ... ... ... 1.33 inches
New Bern ... ... ... 1.12 inches
Jacksonville... ... ...0.62 inches
Greenville... ... ... 0.45 inches
Surf City... ... ... ... ... .0.43 inches
Ocracoke... ... ... ... 0.34 inches
Cape Hatteras... ... 0.23 inches
The radar picture of the storm total rainfall shows just how small the area of heavy rain was. Not what you would expect from a landfalling tropical storm.
Posted by
on 09/10 at 06:36 PM
