At a Glance
- Gordon made landfall as a tropical storm late Tuesday night along the Mississippi Gulf coast.
- Gordon has weakened to a tropical depression and is spreading heavy rain through parts of the Deep South.
- Flooding rain is possible through Thursday from the western Florida Panhandle to Arkansas.
Tropical Depression Gordon will continue to spread heavy rain through the Deep South through Thursday after making landfall Tuesday night along the Gulf Coast.
Gordon made landfall just below hurricane strength late Tuesday night near the Alabama/Mississippi border, about 30 miles east of Biloxi, Mississippi.
For the latest on Gordon's remnant inland heavy rainfall, check out our latest forecast article here.
Storm Recap
Advisories were initiated on Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven on Sept. 2, a type of advisory the National Hurricane Center uses to issue watches and warnings with more lead time on tropical disturbances expected to eventually develop into tropical cyclones.
In this case, tropical storm watches were first issued for the northern Gulf Coast a full two days ahead of the arrival of tropical-storm-force winds (39-plus mph).
South Florida
On Labor Day morning, Sept. 3, Tropical Storm Gordon formed near Florida's upper Keys based on surface-wind observations and Doppler radar data from South Florida.
Heavy rain pounded portions of South Florida, triggering flash flooding in parts of Miami-Dade County, including Homestead and areas near Miami International Airport.
The center of Gordon even passed near Marco Island on Labor Day, which took a direct hit from Irma almost one year ago.
An elevated weather station near Key Biscayne, Florida, measured a 63-mph wind gust while a 54-mph gust was clocked at an elevated station near Miami Beach. Sustained winds of 45 mph with a gust to 54 mph were observed at an elevated WeatherFlow station near Dania Beach, Florida.
Closer to the ground, a wind gust to 51 mph was reported at Miami's Opa Locka Executive Airport.
Northern Gulf Coast
Flooding overtook the streets of Dauphin Island, Alabama, ahead of Gordon's arrival, making many roads impassible as heavy rain inundated southern Alabama.
A 1-foot inundation was observed on the beaches of Dauphin Island early Tuesday evening from Gordon's storm surge despite being near the time of low tide.
A water rescue was reported by the Dauphin Island Fire Department near the public beach Tuesday afternoon. The two in the water were successfully pulled from the water, Mobile Traffic reported.
The "Causeway" – U.S. 90/98 – across Mobile Bay was closed early Wednesday morning due to flooding.
Five to 10 inches of rain triggered flash flooding in parts of Baldwin and Escambia counties in Alabama, as well as Santa Rosa and Escambia counties in Florida.
In Alabama, power lines were downed in Grand Bay, near Mobile and in Orange Beach by strong winds. A downed tree crushed a vehicle in Thomasville.
In Mississippi, trees were downed by Gordon's winds in Laurel, Brooklyn and near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. A tree fell onto a trailer killed one in West Pensacola, Florida.
An elevated weather station at Fort Morgan, Alabama, reported sustained winds of 68 mph with a gust to 78 mph near the time of Gordon's landfall late Tuesday night. A Coastal-Marine Automated Network station on the eastern end of Dauphin Island, Alabama, measured a gust to 74 mph Tuesday evening. A wind gust to 61 mph was reported near Pascagoula, Mississippi.
