Carolina. Flooding From the Beaches to Charlotte .. Still Raining in Wilmington. Roads Closed. I94 I40 and multiple small roads. Stay Home. Stay Safe. Visit Carolina In Your Mind. #CarolinaStrong. Thoughts from Carolina on Florence.

Carolina is kind of closed today to travel.

This is the detour suggested.

Seriously.

This is why.

Florence is still here.

Caught in dead steering currents.

The death toll rises.

Trapped between High Pressure systems.

Pumping tropical moisture up over the Carolinas.

And parts of Virginia..

Look at her tail.

Hanging there.

Feeding her while she's way inland now.

Link to Road Travel Info for North Carolina.

Basically reads "Just don't!!"

https://tims.ncdot.gov/tims/

So not going to give you advisory information today or discussion from the NHC. I'm going to tell you about Florence from my perspective as I live here in Raleigh, safe from flooding and my power is blessedly on and I'm feeling #CarolinaStrong today. Grateful we are okay, sad people have died and mesmerized by the plight of people in flooded towns and in awe of the people who are helping rescue and evacuate people as I write this blog this Sunday morning.

When driving home to North Carolina from what used to be home in Florida you hit this moment when you finally leave I-95 and turn onto I-40 and you feel almost there.. almost home, almost back in the Triangle. When you get to the I-440 you KNOW you hang a right and you made it back home. You see to get to Raleigh you have to get off of I-95 and hang a left at I-40 and it's there you say fairwell to I-95 and hello to the Piedmont as the land begins to rise and things begin to change. I-95 is the dividing line for culture, for the type of BBQ sauce you use in the Carolinas and that stretch of the highway is often flooded when a hurricane comes through the part of the North State known as Down East. The Carolinas are divided at that fork in the road as "East of 95" and "West of 95" more than the actual state boundaries that run from West to East. Today that stretch of road is closed. Here's a map of I-40 and you can see how vital an artery it is to the people of North Carolina.

I-40 is the road we take in Raleigh to get down to Wilmington and the beach beyond at Wrightsville. I-40 is the road we take to drive West to the mountains to see the beauty of Asheville. And for those traveling through to Tennessee they take I-40 straight into Knoxville as they drive across the mountains marveling at Mother Nature's beauty. It is filled with small towns along the way where people live and and work. In Raleigh we travel I-40 on the weekend for dinner in Greensboro or down in Wilmington to eat somewhere at Riverwalk and watch the sun set over the Cape Fear River before heading back on I-40 to life in Raleigh in the middle of the state.  I-95 may be one of the nation's major arteries but understand that I-40 is our vein.. it's our backbone in North Carolina. It's a little bit crooked as it hangs a right down past Raleigh and runs SW down to the beaches but it's how we get where we are going.

Drone footage. New Bern.

You do have to get off of I-40 to go to New Bern.

It's a trip worth taking.

But it will be a while before that happens...

Today in North Carolina few people are going anywhere unless they are reporters, a First Responder or a volunteer helping out somewhere. In Raleigh it's raining and we are watching Crabtree Creek hoping it doesn't rise much more. In Charlotte they are beginning to deal with flooding and power outages. Down East there are new lakes everywhere covering whole towns, roads to those towns and bridges that were taken out by moving water. This does happen once in a while in North Carolina but people here are strong, they help each other and life goes on as we begin to move towards Autumn and the cleanup that will continue on and on from Florence. It's a beautiful state on so many levels, truly from the beaches and the marsh land down by the coast to where it gently rises in the Piedmont and all the way up into the mountains.

Mother Nature is kind to us with the seasons that are longer in the Spring and Fall than most places and a short winter usually. If we are lucky we get a taste of winter and get to see snow falling more than once or twice, but on rare occasions you have to take the rain along with the sunshine. We will have had our share or rain this week and I'm looking forward to Wednesday when the sun is forecast to come out again in Raleigh but I'll believe it when I see it.

http://origin.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/allfcsts_loop_ndfd.gif a link if the loop don't work..

Where does Florence go next? Well that's a question you don't really wanna be asking. In theory she feels the pull of a dipping frontal boundary, pulls North over Western North Carolina and heads up towards the Northeast. There are some odd models that show her bouncing back with a harder right trying to get back to the ocean that she loves and possibly spinning up again, but I'll spare you all those images just yet until the next model run comes out. Suffice it to say it is possible there could be some strange things happening, but we can hope the frontal boundary dives more than dips and grabs Florence and takes her away.

Another link for the 7 day if you want to look out that far...

https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/day0-7loop.html

As for Isaac... keep watching.
Just in case.

Ouch those models climb in intensity.

As for Helene and Joyce...

..not our problem.

Those images are from Spaghetti Models.

www.spaghettimodels.com

A look at Mike's always wonderful Spaghetti Models gives you all the links you need to follow the rising water, tropics and general weather information you need to know. Note the cone of Flo has bent a bit more to the East than it was before when they took it up into Ottawa. Always watch the trend in the cone. I'll write more on this later if I feel the need to make you worry unnecessarily about what could spin up close in from leftover moisture in Florence's tail. The models are on the top left of his page, if you feel the need feel free to go ahead and click on those models but don't say I didn't warn ya!

https://www.facebook.com/mikesweatherpage/

Anyone who has a problem with Mike is just jealous or got up on the wrong side of their bed way too often and needs an attitude readjustment. He is as we say Down South "good people" "good folk" ... a good guy. Mike is how we roll during the Hurricane Season or any season as he covers more than just the tropics. He drove his daughters (and his wife) up to North Florida to see snow falling last year from Tampa, he is that sort of father that any child would want to have....  he deserves an award.

Many people deserve an award from the NWS offices in every city along the way to the NHC but  especially in Wilmington where they spent the night posting Tornado Warnings for the area as Florence refuses to let up and leave the area. If you don't believe me check out their Twitter Feed. They are like what the Postal Service used to be, they never rest, they never sleep.

https://twitter.com/NWSWilmingtonNC

So what next? The rains from Florence will move West and with that long awaited movement we may be taking the drama of Florence up into the mountains where orographic lift can cause even more misery up in mountain communities. I know you learned about that in school but it was a long time ago so here's a quick lesson in why we are so worried about what may come next. Basically it means that because of the terrain you can get more rain and snow out of a weather system than you might otherwise elsewhere.

Hoping and praying we don't have worst problems...

..down that tropical road.

Again leaving you this link below.

https://www.ourstate.com/the-deluge-of-1940/

Warning --- it's not for the faint of heart.

It's a detailed, well written article...

..about the harrowing details of a tragic flood.

Inland flooding. 1940.

After a hurricane got up into the mountains of NC.

Note that flood moved on to other places as well.

Weather happens.

History does repeat.

Each storm is different.

Floods happen.

Praying we don't see this happen.

Praying Flo decides she has had enough off the Carolinas.

Yeah we be down there under that dark red.

Florence's signature ...

...she came from Africa.

Across the ocean...

..and she doesn't wanna leave.

I'll leave y'all with this last piece of advice.

From the source that has worked round the clock.

Turn around, don't drown.

Stay home, read a book, bake something.

Call Uncle Joe.

The sun will come out Wednesday.

Lord have mercy have some patience.

Don't become a part of the problem.

Or God forbid a statistic.

Just wait it out...

Soon the State Fair will be here...

..leaves will begin to turn.

Starbucks has Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Good drink for a dark day like today.

I'll update as needed later on today.

My husband came home just now from morning services at the Temple with this piece of news. He heard "I-40 is closed all the way down to Wilmington and I-95 is out!" Yep, that's the news people are waking up to this morning in North Carolina. As for me I'm going to go offline, make some eggs and fake bacon cause I'm Kosher and yes that's a thing and have another cup of coffee. This hurricane has really been a watershed moment for me in time when I became more of a Carolinian than a Floridian, though I'm still holding onto those bragging rights as well. A few weeks before the hurricane the Miami Dolphins played my Carolina Panthers and I found myself yelling when we were pounding the Fins. For my friends back in Miami ..."sorry bout that" and I'll root for the Dolphins against any team except the Carolina Panthers #Keeppounding. Oh and I'll be watching the game later today when the Panthers play.

Everyone stay safe and honestly I have to tell you the Hurricane Season is NOT over. There should be a break in action for the next week or so as a huge pulse of Saharan Dust came off of Africa (yes they have an unlimited supply of that stuff) and Florence left a cool trail in the water along the coast off the Carolinas. There is a strong possibility of another large hurricane forming and affecting the East Coast and something possibly in the Gulf of Mexico before this hurricane season is in the books. Sorry but that's just life. After October or at the end of October it should be over and we are still sitting in prime time September with days to go before we don't have to worry on the tropics. But with every day we get that much closer to a cold front making it down past Virginia and dreams of snow falling from the sky. It's a ways off but we get there day by day. 

Look at SAL in September.

Go figure.

For the next week or so we watch the Gulf of Mexico for the slim possibility of something happening. Subtropical regions are keeping the forecasters busy this season as 2 other Tropical Storms are staying safely away from the East Coast. And, they are still busy with Florence.

Keep watching.

Hang in there.

I'll update later today at some point.

Maybe after 5 PM... 

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter.

Ps... The name Florence WILL be retired from the Hurricane List.

We may see fire and we may see rain...

...but we won't see this name again.

If you want to go to Carolina today...

do it in your mind.

The roads will open again.
And we will be back in business.

#CarolinaStrong