Alberto puts damper on Gulf Coast holiday

People across much of the Southeast were preparing Sunday for the season’s first named storm as Subtropical Storm Alberto swirled toward Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

Much of the region braced for downpours and wind after days of rain that left the region ripe for flash flooding, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.

“In the Southeast, the Deep South, Gulf Coast states, that is where your Memorial Day is going to be lousy,” he told USA TODAY.

Monday’s holiday should be pretty good — warm and dry — across the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes and Northeast, Pydynowski said. Texas will be hot and dry, along with the Central Plains. Rain is possible in Wyoming, Montana, along with parts of North Dakota, South Dakota and Colorado.

California and the Pacific Northwest should be dry, he said.

Alberto, with sustained winds of up to 50 mph, was less than 150 miles west of Tampa on Sunday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said.

Alberto should make landfall shortly after 8 a.m. ET Monday, west of Panama City, Fla., Pydynowski said. He said the storm was gaining strength and should hit as a strong tropical storm with sustained winds of 60-65 mph.

Customers at the Piggly Wiggly in Panama City were mostly unfazed, assistant store manager Erika Miller said Sunday.

“We are selling a lot of batteries and a lot of water,” Miller told USA TODAY. “But it’s Memorial Day and everyone is still cooking. Everyone already has a hurricane kit. Hurricane prep is a way of life here.”

Governors in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama each declared a state of emergency as rains and wind hit.