Widespread heavy rain has drenched the East Coast Friday and today, as a frontal system teamed up with moisture from former Tropical Storm Tammy. Up to a foot of rain has fallen in some places, and reports or over 3 inches are common. Some reports of the flooding that have been received:

- In Pennsylvania, one person was killed and two were rescued
- In eastern North Carolina, many reports of flooded roads, one report of a dozen people trapped by floodwaters
- In eastern Virginia, reports of flooding and roads closed
- In Hickory, NC, the main thoroughfare (Highway 70) was closed, according to WSOC-TV.
- In South Carolina, many reports of roads washed out, some homes flooded, and WLTX reports that there have been water rescues
- In Baltimore, roads are closed and power outages have occurred, also reports of trees down

Here in Central Pennsylvania, it's been a very long time since I last saw our local radar covered in bright colors. In fact we haven't had this much rain at once since the remnants of Hurricane Ivan hit more than a year ago. Our rainfall total here in Centre County was around 3 inches, which exceeds most previous MONTHLY rainfalls in the past year.

Harrisburg, Reading, Avoca and Williamsport, which comprise most of the major climatological stations in Central PA, all set daily rain records for Friday.

Some storm-total rainfall amounts from the Carolinas northward, as reported by gauges:

NOTICE: THE FOLLOWING LIST HAS BEEN SUPERCEDED BY THIS NEW LIST

PAWLEY'S ISLAND, SC: 9.86"
FORKS TOWNSHIP, PA: 9.78"
ANDREWS, SC: 9.53"
COOPERSBURG, PA: 8.64"
SADSBURYVILLE, PA: 8.50"
PLAINFIELD, PA: 8.20"
SPARTANBURG, SC: 8.00"
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC: 7.65"
WILMINGTON, NC: 7.54"
SOUTH EDDY, PA: 7.50"
SOCASTEE, SC: 7.20"
MURRELLS INLET, SC: 7.06"
BATH, PA: 7.03"
CASTLE HAYNE, NC: 7.00"
WINNABOW, NC: 6.96"
COATESVILLE, PA: 6.41"
SALFORDVILLE, PA: 6.30"
PALM, PA: 6.25"
LITTLE RIVER, SC: 5.49"
JOHNSONVILLE, SC: 5.71"
SOUTHPORT, NC: 5.65"

Check out the Doppler-Estimated Precipitation Map above, or check out individual scopes' estimates here (UPDATED 3 PM EDT).

IN OTHER NEWS...

- A large Asian earthquake which has been reported to have killed thousands.

- The government's National Hurricane Center has just issued this statement about a potential tropical system:

SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES THAT SHOWER ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH THE NON-TROPICAL LOW PRESSURE AREA CENTERED ABOUT 490 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA HAS BECOME BETTER ORGANIZED THIS MORNING...AND THAT THE SYSTEM MAY BE ACQUIRING SOME TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS. IF CURRENT TRENDS CONTINUE...A SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL DEPRESSION COULD FORM LATER TODAY. INTERESTS IN BERMUDA SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.

UPDATE 10:30 AM EDT:

The government now reports:

...SUBTROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMS SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA...TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR BERMUDA... SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS... AND THE DEPRESSION COULD BECOME A SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL STORM LATER TODAY OR TONIGHT.

The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center is tracking the storm, predicting a close call for Bermuda and a general movement towards the East Coast.

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