The National Hurricane Center identified an area of interest for possible tropical development back on June 13th. The area of interest was in the western Caribbean, off the coast of Mexico and Belize. By June 19th, statements were initiated for Potential Tropical Cyclone Three in the south central Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Cindy formed the afternoon of June 20th, 360 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas. Tropical Storm Cindy eventually made landfall on the Louisiana Coast very close to the Texas and Louisiana State Line. Cindy moved north and northeast across Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky before losing its tropical characteristics. Cindy became Post Tropical Cyclone Cindy over central Kentucky on June 23rd.
Very heavy rainfall accompanied Cindy, but was located in two distinct areas. One area was very close to the center over Texas and Louisiana. The second was much larger and several hundreds miles to the east. This rain area was produced by a long southerly fetch of tropical air and a convergent band from Cindy remaining or rotating over the same locations several days. This area was generally southeast Louisiana, Eastern Mississippi, Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and parts of Georgia. Maximum rainfall amounts exceeded 10.5 inches in several places most notably in an area bounded by New Orleans (LA), to Birmingham (AL), to Destin (FL). A few locations in Hale County reportedly received over 11 inches but could not be substantiated. Numerous locations experienced Flash Flooding from this torrential rainfall. Numerous area rivers went into flood, but at most of the locations, only minor flooding was experienced. The wind remained relatively in check and did not produce significant damage. Due to the rather long and strong southerly wind fetch, many areas experienced coastal flooding and deadly riptides.
Central Alabama had two confirmed tornadoes associated with Cindy. Additionally, tornadoes were reported in Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky and other locations in Alabama. Below are links the write ups for the tornadoes and other additional data from the remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy.
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