Star Date 17 Sep 2018 Monday

Hard to say happy Monday in light of the loss of life and property in North Carolina. Prayers for everyone impacted.

We've heard way too many folks say "I had no idea a Cat 1 hurricane could be so devastating, we will never judge a hurricane by a category level ever again." That's some good news that many now realize just how devastating even a Cat 1 can be if you get into the right front sector of a slow moving system. CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW.

Rainfall totals in North Carolina show the Southeast part of the state had record shattering rainfall totals (20-35") that broke the Hurricane Floyd record set back in 1999. Ironically, this is the 19th year anniversary of Floyd that also made landfall near Wilmington NC but Floyd was a much quicker mover and impacted the entire Northeast with record rainfall.



At least 6 locations in NC have broken the State rainfall record from a tropical system. Peak wind gusts were in the 105 to 112 mph range for much of coastal NC.



Most rivers will peak today and tomorrow but some show catastrophic major flooding much of this week. The recovery effort will take many months, even a year with well over $10 billion in damages. Fortunately the remnants of Florence in SW Virginia are starting to move toward the Northeast and then out to sea.



The week ahead (17-23 Sep) shows hot weather in Europe but really cold weather in Canada heading toward the U.S. A couple cold fronts will begin to invade the U.S. later this week and a stronger one next week.



Next week (24-30 Sep) shows the U.S. trending the coolest in 15 years but still the #1 wettest in over 30 years.



While the tropics are quieting down after the parade of systems, they will likely heat up again late month going into October.



Nationally there have been two major cold snaps here in late Summer (middle August, early September) and now it looks like we'll get another one late this weekend and again next week. A sign of things to come!



Little Angelina Kirk LOVES WEATHER and she's clearly Daddy's girl...a future meteorologist in the making. :)

Have a good week and don't forget to follow us on our social media pages for daily updates.Facebook,Twitter,YouTube,PinterestandLinkedin

- Captain Kirk out.