Alberto failed to live up to its reputation across Volusia and Flagler counties Sunday, making for a gloomy day but delivering little soaking rainfall as of early evening.
Much of the storm’s most-intense showers stayed far offshore to the east, in the Atlantic Ocean, or south of Central Florida while the storm’s center moved northward in the Gulf of Mexico. Bands of dry air wrapped up with the storm spared Central Florida much of the feared rainfall that had triggered a flood watch, and the watch was discontinued Sunday afternoon.
Alberto moved northward about 165 miles west of Tampa, and was forecast to arrive Monday along Florida’s northern Gulf Coast west of Apalachicola. On Sunday afternoon, Alberto was able to get a little better organized and grow stronger. At 8 p.m. Sunday, the National Hurricane Center updated its forecast to say Alberto, positioned about 105 miles south of Apalachicola, had winds of up to 65 mph and was expected to become a tropical storm overnight as it neared landfall. Alberto has been a subtropical storm since its formation because it lacked the warm core that forms the core of tropical storms.
Along the Gulf Coast and Big Bend, some mandatory and some voluntary evacuations were underway Sunday after a forecast for a 2- to 4-foot storm surge.
Locally, the highest winds were reported at New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport, with 35 mph wind gusts for several hours and sustained winds of 20-21 mph.
A maximum gust of 33 mph was reported in Flagler Beach on Sunday afternoon, said Bob Pickering, an emergency services technician with Flagler County Emergency Services. "We had a band of rain this morning but due to dry air wrapping in," Pickering said, "the rain engine" was shut down.
The one band of storms that moved through Volusia and Flagler counties Sunday morning delivered not quite a half inch of rain at Daytona Beach International Airport and anywhere from 1.3 to 1.5 inches of rainfall in parts of Flagler County, according to Skywarn spotters there.
The weather kept most people off the beach Sunday, but two people were rescued from the rough water, reported Captain Tammy Malphurs with Volusia Beach Safety and Ocean Rescue.
Martin County and South Florida saw more storminess than Central Florida. A possible tornado was reported by the Melbourne National Weather Service office. Flood warnings and other tornado warnings were issued there Sunday night.
The tropical moisture being pulled northward along with Alberto is forecast to keep things a bit dreary Monday, with rain chances at 70 percent. Rain chances remain at 60 percent every day through Friday, according to the Weather Service.