Tropical Storm Nate is expected to hit Columbia with up to 40 mph winds and four inches of rain beginning late Saturday, but the downpour should arrive after today’s Heritage Festival.
After a hurricane season full of trouble, this latest squall is pointed straight for Mississippi, although it is not expected to be nearly as strong as Harvey, Irma and Maria and the path remained uncertain late this week.
Anna Wolverton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, said Nate was expected to arrive in the Gulf of Mexico Saturday morning and could strengthen from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane.
“It is forecast to make landfall along the Gulf Coast sometime Sunday,” she said. “There’s still a good bit of uncertainty in the exact track of Nate, but at this time we can probably expect in South Mississippi and Columbia it will probably be a rainy weekend and there will probably be some gusty winds throughout the weekend, too. The storm will be moving pretty quickly, which is a good thing. It’s not going to drop huge amounts of rain like Harvey did over Texas.”
Marion County Emergency Management Director Aaron Greer said Thursday after a conference call with the Weather Service that there are a couple of difference tracks. He said it’s definitely going to hit the Gulf Coast, but the exact location east or west remains unknown.
Greer met with the Board of Supervisors and other key personnel Thursday and said they would have another weather briefing Friday.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency unveiled its new app Thursday. It said the app “provides current weather conditions, live radar, an interactive emergency kit list, real-time social media posts, preparedness sections for all-hazards, news alerts, videos and interactive contact directories for both MEMA and county emergency managers.” It’s available as a free download for both iPhones and Androids.
