I think it’s good news, but I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. The rain is letting up across North Carolina with a few isolated exceptions. Some upper level dry air has wrapped into the system. We are not done with the rain, but the steady/constant rain is easing. That easing is moving onto the southside. Rain totals are updated now with Greg in Currituck getting 13.1″ of rain so far. Donna in Blackwater (SouthVirginia Beach) had 13″. A viewer in Suffolk (Magnolia) received 10″ of rain. Pam in Gloucester just called in 6.5″ of rain. Things have definitely improved along the Outer Banks in terms of rain and wind, but the waves and tides are still rough. Here’s the latest radar image from Super Doppler 10: (4:20pm)

Winds have varied over the last couple of hours. They have been really gusty. There have been some periods of letup followed by some gusts to about 45mph. Winds are still forecast to stay up tonight. With the easing rainfall, perhaps the winds will not gust as high as this afternoon. No promises though.
The other bit of good news is that the tide forecast has changed a little. Here is the updated tide history/forecast from the National Weather Service:

You’ll note that the high tide for Sewell’s point has come down several inches (not seven, several) from the previous forecast. Also it may be hinting at coming in even below this forecast as it is bending a little at the last red x. Again I don’t want to get folks hopes up, but it’s possible that this tide won’t be as high as forecast. It will still be worse than this mornings tide. At the low end 7.2ft. At the high end 7.8ft. This morning was 6.7ft. Again this is at Sewell’s Point. For some context about these numbers please read the previous blog. Also the new forecast calls for the highest tide for tomorrow morning now. Stay tuned, the tide forecast has been changing often, but that is natural in these situations.
I wish I could talk about every area, but you can see from the comments that a lot of people are affected by the rain and tidal flooding. I’ve got pictures of flooded streets coming in from parts of Poquoson, Windsor Woods in Virginia Beach, Sandbridge, Bennetts Creek Marina in Suffolk, Armistead in Hampton, Quail Run in Moyock, Norview and Tidewater Dr. in Norfolk….This list goes on. We have about 1,300 emails from folks, and they are still coming in. So we can’t mention everybody. Again don’t head out tonight if you can help it. There is a lot of street and tidal flooding out there tonight. It’s rough out there.
Finally, Nicole Livas just mentioned that the Color Purple has been cancelled for this evening.
Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler