Debby threatens Panhandle, brings rain and spawns tornado watch for South Florida - MiamiHerald.com

From Miami to the Panhandle, Tropical Storm Debby pummeled Gulf Coast beaches and drenched much of Florida on Sunday as it crawled north in the Gulf of Mexico.
The massive storm sparked a tornado watch across South Florida through 8 p.m. Sunday and its lingering effects could rain on the parade scheduled for the Miami Heat in downtown Miami on Monday.
But where Debby, packing 60 mph winds and expected to strengthen over the next few days, was bound remained up in the air. Coastal Louisiana was in the center of the National Hurricane Center’s forecast cone – at least for the time being – but forecasters warned the track could change at any time.
In a morning advisory, forecasters acknowledged struggling with a “very difficult and highly uncertain forecast.’’ Computer models were in sharp disagreement over whether it would track west or turn east, picked up by an approaching trough, toward the Big Bend area of Florida
Tropical storm warnings and watches were up for much of the low-lying Louisiana coast as well as for Alabama’s beaches and Florida’s Panhandle and Big Bend areas.
At 2 p.m., Debby was about 105 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, and was expected to remain over the open Gulf for the next few days. That could be enough time to allow it to become a hurricane before making landfall, perhaps sometime Thursday.
But much of the Gulf north of Tampa was already being raked by powerful gusts extending out 200 miles, with the strongest winds and heaviest rains on Debby’s northeastern and landward side. High surf was pummeling beaches and storm surge will be a concern as well, particularly for the low-lying Louisiana delta where Debby was expected to push a three- to five-foot-high surge ashore.
Rainfall of up to 10 inches was expected along some sections of the northern Gulf coast.
In soggy South Florida, conditions were expected to begin slowly improving by Monday – but not enough to ensure a dry Miami Heat parade.
David Ross, a forecaster at the National Weather Service’s Miami office, said rain chances would drop only to 50 percent.
“It’s not looking favorable,’’ he said.

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