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North Florida Set For Slow Soaking As Fay Heads West

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By NEIL JOHNSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 22, 2008

TAMPA - Counties north of Hillsborough will take the brunt of Tropical Storm Fay through today as the storm makes its leisurely, wet way west.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service office in Ruskin, however, expect perhaps 1 or 2 inches of rain from Fay in Hillsborough and Pinellas through today.

From Hernando County north, Fay will bring torrential rain and winds of 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph today and into Saturday.

Hillsborough and Pinellas counties will get their hair mussed and see bursts of rain as squalls spiraling off the storm's massive center sweep in from the Gulf of Mexico.

Most of the rain bands will move quickly, delivering short periods of heavy rain and gusty winds.

The wind should remain in the 20 mph range except for gusts that may reach 30 mph in squalls.

Pasco County may see a bit more wind and frequent rain, depending on whether Fay dips to the south.

Some stray rain bands will still be moving ashore Saturday.

Coastal flooding should be limited to a foot or two, the weather service said.

For other parts of the state submerged by rain measured in feet, federal help is on the way.

President Bush on Thursday granted the request by Gov. Charlie Crist to declare a state of emergency across all Florida's counties.

Parts of Brevard County were drenched by 30 inches of rain Wednesday and water up to 5 feet deep flooded houses in Port St. Lucie.

Flooding in counties still in Fay's path is not expected to be as bad unless the storm stalls like it did Wednesday.

Fay is expected to continue heading west at about 5 mph.

If Fay stays on its current path, the southern edge of the storm's center would pass through or just north of Levy County.

At that foot-dragging speed, the huge expanse of the storm likely will take a day or more to cross the state.

The center of circulation is about 50 miles across and squalls extend more than 120 miles past the eastern edge of the center.

The National Hurricane Center's forecast takes the storm into the Gulf of Mexico or close to the Gulf north of Cedar Key by late today.

There are no wind warnings for the areas Hernando, Citrus, Sumter or Levy counties where the southern edge of the storm should cross.

Those counties, however, are under a flood watch until this afternoon.

If the storm's track ticks to the south, Pasco could be included in the watch.

If the storm reaches the Gulf, it could regain at least the tropical storm strength it is expected to lose during its slog across North Florida.

The hurricane center issued a tropical storm watch for the northern Gulf coast from the Suwannee River to Indian Pass.

Forecasters expect Fay to drop 4 to 8 inches of rain through today over the northern counties.

The presidential declaration frees the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide aid for the state. Though the president mentioned only Brevard, Highlands, Lee, Martin, Osceola, Polk, Hendry, Collier and Miami-Dade counties, Crist wants the federal help to be made available for the entire state.

The center of Fay's vast circulation made it ashore near Flagler Beach about 2:30 p.m. Thursday after circling Wednesday night over the Atlantic Ocean, where the warm water recharged the storm's supply of rain.

If the storm follows the forecast, the Tampa Bay area will be about the only part of the state not directly affected by Fay.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated incorrectly which Florida counties were subject to President Bush's declaration of emergency

Reporter Catherine Dolinski contributed to this report. Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at njohnson@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7731.

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