Tropical Storm Delta, named Monday by the National Hurricane Center, had in its five-day forecast cone the western Panhandle, which sustained heavy flooding nearly three weeks ago because of Hurricane Sally.
“Regardless of the exact path, storm surge, wind and heavy rainfall is possible in Northwest Florida at the end of this week,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office warned in an email known as its Daily Digest.
Tropical storm-force winds could affect the state from the Alabama border to east of Tallahassee starting Thursday, according to the Hurricane Center forecast. Delta on Monday was about 135 miles south of Negril, Jamaica, and southeast of Tropical Storm Gamma, which was in the Gulf of Mexico north of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Gamma is expected to make landfall over the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday and further weaken Wednesday, the Hurricane Center said. However, Gamma could affect the path of Delta, which is the 25th named storm of the 2020 hurricane season.
“Delta is forecast to approach the northern Gulf Coast late this week as a hurricane,” the center said Monday morning. “While there is large uncertainty in the track and intensity forecasts at these time ranges, there is an increasing risk of dangerous storm surge, wind, and rainfall hazards along the coast from Louisiana to the western Florida Panhandle.”
On Friday, DeSantis announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had approved individual assistance for Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties because of damage from Hurricane Sally, which made landfall in Alabama.
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This article appears in Best of the Bay 2020.