Tropical Storm — Coastal Glynn, Georgia

2016-10-06 to 2016-10-08 · Coastal Glynn, Georgia

Event narrative

Glynn county experienced storm surge flooding as well as tropical storm force wind damage from strong winds associated with Hurricane Matthew.

Maximum storm tide included at 3 pm on 10/7, the USGS tidal gage at Saint Simons Island reported a water level of 6.15 feet above NAVD88 datum. This was 2.04 feet above the predicted level of 4.11 feet.

Peak winds that were measured included sustained 32 mph on 10/7 at 4:15 pm with a gust to 54 mph on 10/7 at 11:35 pm at the Brunswick Glynco Airport. A gust to 40 mph was measured 3 miles south of Boys Estates on 10/7 at 6:22 pm. At Atlantic Coast, a storm tide of 6.15 ft MHHW was measured with a surge of 3.18 ft. Other locations where a storm tide was measured relative to MHHW datum were: Liberty Harbor with 2 ft of storm tide; Brunswick DNR 1.5 ft storm tide; Marshside Rest 2 ft storm tide; and Belle Pt Plantation 3 ft storm tide.

Between 6 and 7 pm, a 64 mph wind gust was reported by a mesonet gage on Jekyll Island and a 62 mph gust was reported on Saint Simons Island. The WeatherFlow mesonet site on Jekyll Island measured a sustained wind of 41 mph on 10/7 at 6:16 pm with a gust of 64 mph on 10/7 at 6:01 pm. Around 7:30 pm, a large tree was blown down and blocked Chapel Crossing Road on the north side of Brunswick. Between 11 pm on 10/7 and 1:00 am on 10/8, numerous reports of trees blown down were received by the county 911 center. Trees fell on homes on Jekyll Island off of Tyler Lane, Old Plantation Road, Riverview Drive, and also at Perkins Street and Captain Wylly Road. In Brunswick, a large tree was blown down at the 400 block of Norwich Street. Moderate structural damage occurred to an Arby's Restaurant along the Altama Connector in Brunswick.

Measured storm total 48 hour rainfall included 10.29 inches 2 miles SSW of County Club Estates and 9.57 inches 5 miles ESE of Thalmann.

Wider weather episode

Category 3 Hurricane Matthew track northward along the Florida Atlantic Coast Thursday October 7th, and then NNE remaining about 50 east of Mayport at the closest approach Friday morning October 8th. Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia only experienced tropical storm conditions with sustained speeds generally 35-55 mph with higher gusts up to 80 mph along coastal areas and the St. Johns River basin, with much weaker winds inland. Strong winds and flooding rainfall, as well as a 4-7 ft storm surge impacted much of coastal NE Florida and portions of SE Georgia. Storm total rainfall amounts ranged from up to near 10 inches in some coastal and St. Johns River basin counties...down to only 2-4 inches farther inland toward the I-75 corridor.

Water levels were already elevated along the St. Johns River for several days ahead of Matthew due to a local nor'easter. Water levels were very slow to drain out of the St. Johns River basin with major to moderate flooding ongoing for about 5-6 days in portions of Putnam and St. Johns counties due to the seiche affect and water being trapped in the estuary under persistent onshore flow after Matthew.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 660842. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.