At a Glance

Sally made landfall Wednesday morning near Gulf Shores, Alabama.Sally's inland flash flood threat has spread into Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.Areas as far north as southern Virginia could pick up 6 inches of rain or more.Sally's winds have weakened as the storm moves farther inland.Sally triggered catastrophic flooding from both torrential rain and storm surge along the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Sally made landfall early Wednesday morning near the Alabama and Florida border, with catastrophic flooding rainfall, damaging storm surge and strong winds. Sally spread the threat of flooding rainfall well inland across the Southeast.

Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 4:45 a.m. CDT Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

(LATEST: Sally Brings Damaging Storm Surge and Flooding Rainfall)

Although Sally's winds have weakened, gusty winds will continue in the Southeast into Friday. Wind gusts over 30 mph have recently been reported in the Atlanta area and some trees have been downed.

Heavy rainfall flooded streets in numerous areas in southeastern Alabama and parts of southern and central Georgia Wednesday into midday Thursday. Flash flooding was also reported in parts of central South Carolina Thursday.

The heaviest rain, however, was along parts of the Alabama coast and the western Florida Panhandle. The highest measured rainfall total so far is just over . Another estimated rainfall total of 30 inches was also reported near northwest Pensacola.

Sally Recap

Sally was born as Tropical Depression Nineteen just off the coast of South Florida on .

The following afternoon the depression strengthened to Tropical Storm Sally over the Gulf of Mexico just off the southwest coast of Florida.

Flooding rainfall soaked parts of the Florida Keys on Sept. 12. Some areas in the Keys picked up nearly a foot of rainfall.

Sally also soaked parts of the western Florida Peninsula on Sept. 13 as it moved northward over the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Just before noon on Sept. 14, Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance aircraft found Sally had intensified into a hurricane while centered about 165 miles southeast of Biloxi, Mississippi.

Sally then slowed to a crawl, and as with many slow-moving tropical storms and hurricanes, became a challenge to forecast exactly when and, thus, where it would take its northward turn toward the Gulf Coast.

Sally finally developed a small inner core, which allowed it to strengthen to a near Gulf Shores, Alabama, on the morning of Sept. 16.

Sally became the eighth tropical cyclone in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season to make a mainland U.S. landfall, a , according to Colorado State University tropical scientist Phil Klotzbach.

Sally also made landfall in the as Category 3 Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

One rather fascinating oddity about Sally was a drop in water levels.

As Sally moved inland on Sept. 16, water levels in Mobile Bay dropped from 3 to 9 feet below normal for a brief time as strong north winds .

Storm surge flooding inundated areas where Sally's center crossed the coast, from Alabama to the western Florida Panhandle.

A storm surge of 5.6 feet has been recorded in Pensacola, Florida. Parts of the city's downtown area were submerged by several feet of water because of the storm surge and heavy rainfall. Peak inundations of 3 to 4 feet above normal high tide levels were recorded also in Panama City Beach and Dauphin Island, Alabama.

Serious flash flooding with flooded homes and roads - some sections of which were - has also occurred in numerous spots from southeast Alabama into the Florida Panhandle and southwest Georgia. This torrential rain on top of the storm surge has combined to produce catastrophic flooding near the Gulf Coast.

Flash flood emergencies were issued by the National Weather Service Wednesday in the western Florida Panhandle for parts of Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington Counties. Record flooding was measured on the in Walton County, Florida.

These highest-level flash flood warnings were also issued in southeast Alabama for southeast Baldwin, northern Coffee and northern Dale Counties, where the NWS estimated rainfall rates of 4 to 6 inches in one hour would occur.

A wind gust to 92 mph was measured early Wednesday morning in Pensacola, Florida. Dauphin Island, Alabama, and Mobile, Alabama recorded wind gusts as high as 99 mph and 82 mph, respectively.

lost power in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to poweroutage.us.

While not nearly as strong as winds in the hours before or after landfall near the coast, numerous trees were reported down in , among other areas.

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