Debby Does Tampa Bay

NOAA/GOES Photo

Tropical Storm Debby confounded weather forecasters for days before finally making it to tropical storm status. The storm's predicted path looped and swirled in multiple directions, rather like that of a giant roller coaster, so forecast models varied in what track the storm would follow.

Tampa Bay received her full fury Sunday, as Debby came ashore delivering high winds that frequently switched directions and dumped inches of rain in under an hour. She's a fickle lady that teases with her waxing and waning onslaught.

This unfortunate blogger had the audacity to venture out this morning and meet some friends who made the unfortunate choice of visiting the area during the rainy season. Three hours after breakfast ended, Debby drenched us with winds that blasted rain from all sides. A drive home that would normally take approximately 20 minutes doubled in length. Black clouds shrouded the skies and created a backdrop for the mini monsoon that made driving at normal speeds nearly impossible.

I arrived home safely by taking a route that kept me on higher ground than my usual route. Once I neared my destination, negotiating the large accumulations of water at lower elevations reminded me of running an obstacle course. I'm certain the ducks are celebrating, but traffic is almost nonexistent as I write this.

Forecasters have reached consensus that Debby will bypass Louisiana, and Ham on Wry envisions raucous celebrations on Bourbon Street. Louisiana should get a pass on all major storms, since it has experienced more than its share of nature's wrath in the past few years. The 9th Ward has still not recovered from Hurricane Katrina, which hit in 2005.

Current predictions have Debby tracking north, so the Florida panhandle and the Mississippi and Alabama coastal regions could be hit. A chance still exists for Debby to strengthen into a hurricane.