Coastal Flood Warning Runs to 5 A.M. for Eastern Putnam as King Tides Linger and Heavy Rain Reaches Jacksonville Sunday
The National Weather Service in Jacksonville kept a coastal flood warning in effect for eastern Putnam County until 5 a.m. Sunday, with minor flooding along the northeast Florida coast — and 2 to 3 inches of rain possible Sunday afternoon into Monday.
A week of exceptionally high king tides is easing slowly on the First Coast, and the rain behind it arrives before the water fully drains. The National Weather Service office in Jacksonville kept a coastal flood warning for eastern Putnam County in effect until 5 a.m. Sunday, with moderate flooding of around 2 feet above normally dry ground expected along the St. Johns River there, according to a Weatherboy report on the weekend flooding read by the desk this run. Elsewhere along the northeast Florida coast and the lower St. Johns River, mostly minor flooding of about 1.5 to 2 feet above normally dry ground was forecast at high tide.
Earlier in the week, a weather service forecaster said the impacts in northeast Florida resembled those of a tropical storm, News4JAX reported in the same account: residents of Coquina Avenue used kayaks to reach their homes, and St. Augustine delayed the opening of City Hall and several government offices because of flooding. Farther up the river near Astor, in Lake and Volusia counties, the St. Johns stood at 3.6 feet on Friday evening, above its 2.3-foot flood stage, under a flood warning that remains in effect until further notice.
The next problem is rain on saturated ground. The Weather Prediction Center placed much of Florida's east coast, extending north through the Jacksonville metro area, under a Slight Risk of excessive rainfall — level 2 of 4 — for Sunday, and kept the risk along the entire Interstate 95 corridor for Monday, citing a wave of tropical moisture and soils saturated by consecutive days of rainfall. The Jacksonville weather service office said 2 to 3 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts, is a reasonable expectation Sunday afternoon into Monday.
That outlook matches the station's live feed read at 12:29 a.m. Sunday: Jacksonville at 71.4 degrees, a Sunday high near 78 with an 18 percent precipitation chance that rises through the day, and Monday's precipitation chance at 60 percent with a high near 76. Low-lying river and coastal roads remain the Sunday-morning concern first, before the rain chance builds in the afternoon. The National Hurricane Center said Saturday that no tropical cyclone formation is expected in the Atlantic over the next seven days.
