Tropical Storm Colin heads out sea after drenching Florida with 225mm of rain

Former Tropical Storm Colin headed out to sea Tuesday after dumping as much as 225mm of rain on parts of Florida, flooding roads and causing thousands of power outages.

A team investigated a possible tornado related to the storm that damaged homes and toppled trees in Jacksonville. Although the storm was out to sea, forecasters said Colin is expected to produce additional rainfall of up to 50mm across far eastern North Carolina, and as much as 125mm across central Florida through Tuesday evening.

The US Hurricane Centre said Colin, which formed Sunday, was the earliest a third named storm had developed during the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially began June 1.

In Dare County, North Carolina, Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson said rain had been falling nearly continuously since Tropical Storm Bonnie, which formed May 28. So far, there had been no major flooding.

“We’re really just seeing large amounts of water,” Pearson said, noting that many roads in the Outer Banks are at sea level, meaning that they can be quickly affected by heavy rains. Traffic may be slow but hadn’t been stopped anywhere, he said.

Tropical storm warnings were discontinued on Tuesday as the remnants of Colin sped away from the mid-Atlantic coast and out to sea.

Although maximum sustained winds were at 108km/h with higher gusts, the system’s strongest winds and heaviest rains were over water and southeast of the centre. The hurricane centre said some slight strengthening was possible Tuesday night, but gradual weakening was expected to begin on Wednesday.