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Tropical Storm Cristobal drenches region

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Tropical Storm Cristobal spared north Florida a direct hit this past weekend, instead making landfall in southeastern Louisiana on Sunday evening, June 7. Even so, the storm left its calling card in the Big Bend region and beyond in the form flooding, downed trees and power outages.

Paula Carroll, director of the Division of Emergency Management in Jefferson County, reported downed trees at numerous locations around the county, including South Salt Road, Ashville Highway, Industrial Park Drive and West Washington Street in Monticello.

She said the county had experienced the normal amount of flooding but no roads had been closed as a result, other than for a portion of Upper Cody Road. And at least one power outage of a two-hour duration and affecting 81 houses was also reported, she said.

Otherwise, Carroll said, no damage was reported.

According to the Weather Channel (WC), rainfall rates of three to six inches per hour were common across the Panhandle on Sunday and caused significant flash flooding as far east as downtown Jacksonville, where vehicles were reported becoming trapped in the rapidly rising water.

The WC also reported one observer near Hopewell in Madison County recording 12.09 inches of rain falling in the 48-hour period ending at 5 p.m. on Sunday. And in neighboring Suwannee County, a weather station there reported 13.03 inches of rain between midnight and 8 p.m. on Sunday, the highest reported.

On Sunday afternoon, in fact, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) temporarily closed both the east and westbound lanes of I-10 near the 273 mile marker in Suwanee County because of standing or running water. The FHP rerouted the westbound traffic onto US 90 to Lee in Madison County and then south on County Road 255 to the interstate, using the same route in reverse for the eastbound traffic.

By Monday, June 8, Cristobal had devolved into a tropical depression and was tracking inland at 10 mph in a northwardly direction into the upper Midwest, where it was expected to continue weakening.

The storm – the third named of the season – made landfall in southeastern Louisiana on Sunday evening, accompanied by coastal flooding, heavy rainfall and gusting winds. The storm's maximum sustained winds at the time of landfall were an estimated 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm's large wind-field was credited with driving high surf to the beaches along the entire Gulf Coast, where it generated dangerous rip currents and coastal flooding.

Cristobal broke a record when it became a tropical storm on June 2, making it the earliest-in-season third named Atlantic storm, according to the WC. Previously, the record was held by Tropical Storm Colin, which formed on June 5, 2016.
In an average season, according to the WC, the third named storm arrives about mid August. Last year, for example, the "C" storm – Chantal – didn't arrive until August 20, according to the WC.

As part of the storm, a tornado touched down near eastern Orlando early Saturday, the WC reported. And several funnel clouds and waterspouts were reported across the Florida Panhandle.

All the weather forecast this year have called for an extremely active season, a point underscored by Cristobal and the two pre-season tropical storm that preceded it. The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1 and extends through November 30.