Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Hurricane Sally intensifies; Gulf Coast landfall Tuesday

Ten-foot storm surge and 10 to 20 inches of rain likely

The next serious hurricane will blast wind, storm surge and flooding rainfall along the Gulf Coast Tuesday.

Hurricane Sally continues to intensify over favorably warm water and atmospheric conditions in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The storm packs 90 mph sustained winds Monday afternoon. Sally’s sustained winds are expected to reach at least 105 mph before landfall Tuesday.

NOAA’s Infrared (IR) satellite loop shows the impressive storm spinning south of the western Florida panhandle Monday afternoon.

Hurricane Sally
Hurricane Sally Monday.
NOAA via tropical tidbits

The official National Hurricane Center storm track brings Sally ashore along the Gulf coast near the Mississippi-Alabama border Tuesday.

Hurricane Sally storm track forecast
Hurricane Sally storm track forecast
NOAA/National Hurricane Center

NOAA’s HWRF model shows a powerfully wrapped system at landfall Tuesday afternoon.

NOAA HWRF model forecast for Hurricane Sally Tuesday
NOAA HWRF model forecast for Hurricane Sally Tuesday
NOAA via tropical tidbits

Surge and rainfall flooding

Sally’s wind damage will be substantial. But storm surge and rainfall flooding pose an even bigger threat. Storm surge forecasts exceed 6 feet in parts of the coast.

Hurricane Sally peak storm surge forecast
Hurricane Sally peak storm surge forecast
NOAA/National Hurricane Center

Rainfall totals from 10 to 20-plus inches look likely.

Hurricane Sally rainfall forecast
Hurricane Sally rainfall forecast
NOAA/National Hurricane Center

Record Atlantic hurricane season

Sally is the 18th named storm in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Sally is the earliest 18th named storm to form in the Atlantic, breaking the previous record by more than two weeks.

Overall metric on hurricane activity in the Atlantic this season are off the charts. By most measures, this is among the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record.