Residents Encouraged to Monitor Tropical Storm Cristobal

The City of Pensacola is encouraging residents to closely monitor the weather forecast this weekend and take precautions as needed through Sunday, June 7. The National Hurricane Center has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the Pensacola area due to the large wind field to the east of Tropical Storm Cristobal. The definition of a Tropical Storm Warning includes sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph expected somewhere within the specified coastal area within 36 hours.

The National Weather Service of Mobile is forecasting local impacts to include heavy rainfall, possible coastal flooding, possible tornadoes, high risk of rip currents and high surf.

According to NWS of Mobile, Tropical Storm Cristobal is forecast to move north toward the north central Gulf Coast over the weekend. The peak wind forecast is 20-30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. Rainfall of 3-6 inches is expected through Sunday afternoon, with locally higher amounts possible.

Follow these tips to stay safe during severe weather:

• Pay extra attention to local weather reports until the storm has moved through the area. Be sure to keep your weather radio on and your cell phone charged to ensure you can receive weather alerts. 
• With the possibility of high winds, it is recommended that any lightweight outside furniture or equipment be secured before Sunday morning.
• Organizations with planned outside activities during the weekend need to be weather aware and take the appropriate actions.

Tornado safety tips from the National Weather Service:

• GET IN - If you are outside, get inside. If you're already inside, get as far into the middle of the building as possible.
• GET DOWN - Get underground if possible. If you cannot, go to the lowest floor possible.
• COVER UP - Flying and falling debris are a storm's number one killer. Use pillows, blankets, coats, helmets, etc to cover up and protect your head and body from flying debris.
• An extensive list of tornado safety tips and scenarios is available at weather.gov/ama/severesafetytips.

For the latest information on severe weather impacting Escambia County, residents are encouraged to sign up for emergency alerts on myescambia.com, like Escambia County Emergency Management on Facebook and follow @BeReadyEscambia on Twitter.

For updates from the City of Pensacola, sign up for email or text notifications through Notify Me, like City of Pensacola Government on Facebook and follow @cityofpensacola on Twitter.

Tips to maintain COVID-19 best practices while sheltering during severe weather:

• Keep 6 feet of physical distance between you and others 
• Wear a face covering or mask
• Keep disinfectant wipes and gloves handy
• View more safety tips from the CDC here

Stay informed with these additional local resources:

• Escambia County real-time road closures map: View Escambia County road closures map online here.
• City of Pensacola real-time road closures map: View City of Pensacola road closures map online here.
• National Weather Service Mobile/Pensacola: weather.gov/mob or facebook.com/nwsmobile
• Pensacola 311 (non-emergencies only): Citizens have three easy ways to contact 311: Simply dialing 311, visiting cityofpensacola.com/311, or by downloading our Pensacola 311 mobile app, available for iPhone/iPad, Android, and Blackberry.
• City notifications: cityofpensacola.com/List.aspx