FPREN

Sally is now a Category-2 hurricane and continuing to bear down on the northern Gulf Coast. Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were placed in the hurricane warning area on Monday.

“The city is continuing the monitor Sally and we’re in close contact with Escambia County Emergency management,” said Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson, who declared a state of emergency just after his weekly virtual news conference on Monday. “We encourage our residents to monitor the storm as well.”

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson used his weekly virtual news conference to remind everyone to be vigilant and continue to monitor the progress of Hurricane Sally.

Escambia County is under a tropical storm watch, and a state of emergency for the city of Pensacola was declared by the mayor shortly after his news conference.

“The city is continuing the monitor Sally and we’re in close contact with Escambia County Emergency management,” said Robinson. “We encourage our residents to monitor the storm as well.”

Government forecasters are predicting an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season with the possibility of almost 20 named storms.

During a teleconference with the media Thursday Neil Jacobs, acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, said indications point to an above-average season from June 1 through Nov. 30 -- with the possibility of extreme activity.

Forecasters continue to track a line of severe weather moving across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, part of which is taking dead aim at the Florida Panhandle and south Alabama.

The tracking has been going on for the better part of a week by the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, where Jeff Huffman is chief meteorologist.

Residents in the Florida Panhandle and South Alabama are being advised to stay alert this weekend, as a powerful, organized storm front approaches from the west.

This will be a powerful front, according to Meteorologist Jeff Huffman at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, and will catch a lot of attention on Friday with the severe weather developing – especially Friday night across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

The squall line will be capable of producing widespread swaths of wind damage, along with rainfall amounts of 1-3 in.

Officials with the Florida Forest Service are warning residents in the Panhandle of the increasing danger of wildfires because of a continued lack of rainfall.

Rain totals in Northwest Florida have been at zero, says Jeff Huffman -- a meteorologist at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. And that’s doing a number on crops and lawns, as well as ratcheting up the threat of wildfire.

If it’s mid- to late August, then we’re heading into the busiest time of the hurricane season. Coastal residents are urged to stay alert from now until at least the end of the season on Nov. 30.

“There had been some notable adjustments that have been made by some of the lead forecasters in our circles,” says Meteorologist Jeff Huffman at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network – FPREN. That includes NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As heat advisories continue to be issued in northwest Florida, officials are recommending people take precautions to avoid health issues.