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Terry Eliasen
@terrywbz


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Tracking Hurricanes and Supermoons!

For the purposes of this briefing, I will essentially covering/blogging about two things…

First the tropics and more specifically Idalia.

Second some fun stuff going on in the sky over the next few nights.

Idalia became a hurricane overnight and it continues to gain strength over the very warm, Gulf of Mexico waters today.

Tropical Storm and Hurricane watches are posted up and down the Florida Coastline.

The official forecast track has not changed much in the last couple of days.  Idalia will continue to strengthen through tonight, likely becoming a major, category 3 hurricane by early Wednesday.

The eye is projected to make landfall near Cedar Key and Cross City Florida around 9am Wednesday.

There will be as much as 5-10″ of rainfall in parts of central and northern Florida as well as coastal Georgia and North/South Carolina.

Perhaps the greatest concern with Idalia tonight and Wednesday is the storm surge.

Current forecasts are for 4-7 feet of water in the Tampa area and as much as 10-15 feet closer to where the eye will make landfall.  Keep in mind that Florida is basically right at sea level, leaving very little wiggle room with no elevation gain.

Up here in New England, we will be spared any major impacts from both Idalia and Franklin (now moving away from the East Coast).  Those headed for the beaches over the next several days will need to be aware of rough seas and rip currents.  There could be swells up to 4-8 feet, particularly along the south facing beaches.

Now on to a lighter topic…

We have our second full Moon of the month coming up on Wednesday!  This is known as a “Blue Moon” and occurs about once every 2-3 years.

What makes this months Blue Moon even more special is that it will also be a “Supermoon”!

Remember, Supermoons are full Moons that occur when the Moon is relatively close to Earth in its orbit.  They typically appear somewhat large and brighter than an average full Moon.

Put the two together and you get a fairly rare, “Blue Supermoon”!

This will be the first time that has happened in 5 years, the next one is not until 2037!

The Moon is officially full at 9:36pm Wednesday and will be rising above the horizon at 8:01pm.  It currently looks like the skies will be clearing out in the evening, perhaps just in time!

Lastly, if you look to the east about an hour after sunset Wednesday (around 8:30pm), you will be able to see Saturn very close to the full Moon!

If you are able to snap any pictures, our team would love to see them!  Send them along to weather@wbztv.com!



Click here for Westford snow storm data and past totals or select “Winter Snowfall“ under “Pages” on the left hand side.

For more up to date forecast information follow me on Twitter (@terrywbz) or follow the WBZ weather team on Facebook, search WBZWeather

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