We are just a little over 24 hours away from feeling some of the impacts of Tropical Storm Cristobal. Storm Team 4 has been tracking this system since last week, and it now looks like the entire state of Wisconsin will be getting some of the wind and rain from the remnants of Cristobal. On Sunday TS Cristobal made landfall near southeastern Louisiana. So far, the storm has dropped over 3 inches of rain from Louisiana to Florida and in some cases even more.
Check out these rainfall totals from the National Weather Service office out of Tallahassee, Fl. Some areas east of Tallahassee have received more than 6” of rain.
The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center has Cristobal as a tropical depression, moving northwest at 15mph. Rainfall estimates from the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) have between 1-3” of rain falling across Wisconsin starting Tuesday afternoon. See below.
In addition to the rain, it’s likely that we will also get some scattered thunderstorms and gusty winds up to 40 mph from the remnants of Cristobal in southeastern Wisconsin. This image below of the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model (HRRR) shows the rain and possibly, a few thunderstorms working through Racine, Kenosha, and Milwaukee Counties late Tuesday afternoon.
Cristobal continues to make history. On June 2nd, it became the earliest third named storm on record for the Atlantic Basin and if this track of the remnants of Cristobal continues on the current route into our area and Canada, (which it is expected to do) this will be the first time in history that a tropical depression has made it this far north and west since weather service offices started keeping records in the 1800s. It would also be the fourth time on record that a tropical system has tracked across Wisconsin.
So, get ready for some windy and rainy days on Tuesday and Wednesday along with a very low chance for a brief tornado or two. Be sure to prepare for possible power outages and also secure your outdoor furniture and any items that could be blown away.
Stay Safe! Elissia