Forecasters are warning about the potential for drenching rain and severe weather on the northern Gulf Coast. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch Monday for much of southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia.
That includes areas where thousands of people are still trying to recover from Hurricane Michael devastating landfall last month. As much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain is possible through Tuesday night, and the forecast says many areas will get 4 inches (10 centimeters). Nearly 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) of rain fell by Monday afternoon near Pensacola, Florida, and rainfall totals of more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) were common in north Georgia.
Water covered in fields in eastern Alabama. The weather forced cities including Mobile and Huntsville in Alabama and Dallas to cancel Veterans Day parades. A shortened parade that included a marching Army unit, cars decorated with U.S. flags and youth groups moved down a wet street during a break in the rain in Pensacola, Florida, but video showed relatively few onlookers.
The weather service issued a tornado watch for Monday morning much of Louisiana, southern Mississippi and coastal Alabama into the Panhandle. Radar indicated possible twisters near Leeville, Louisiana, and Gulf Breeze Florida, prompting tornado warnings, but there were no immediate reports of damage. Meanwhile, forecasters said a new tropical weather threat was brewing in the Atlantic.
The National Hurricane Center said a tropical wave located about 200 miles (322 kilometers) east of the Leeward Islands had an 80 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression or a tropical storm this week. The system was expected to pass north of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the southeastern Bahamas.