Marion County is facing the potential of flash flooding and tornadoes in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey.
Two to four inches of rain are expected to fall by Friday, according to Daniel Lamb, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Jackson.
Lamb said the center of Harvey will pass west of Columbia, tracking up Louisiana and through the Mississippi Delta, but this area will still feel the side effects of the storm that has devastated southeast Texas with heavy rains.
He said they may start to see some potential for flooding around Columbia. As of Tuesday, Lamb said they are calling it a “limited threat,” but that could be upgraded to a flash flood watch.
There’s also a chance for sporadic tornadoes this week. The eastern side of a tropical storm tends to produce scattered storms that rotate, Lamb said. That increased amount of spin in the atmosphere can lead to tornadoes, he said, which are different from typical tornadoes produced by strong cold fronts in the spring and fall.
Also, why is Harvey, with the huge flooding it has caused in Houston, a tropical storm and not a hurricane? The difference is all in the wind speed.
A hurricane must have sustained winds of 64 mph or greater.
A tropical storm has sustained winds of 39 mph to 63 mph.
Harvey’s wind speeds were at about 45 mph Tuesday.
Caption: A truck drives through a low spot on Main Street during a persistent rain Tuesday.
