Tropical Storm Warning issued for Gulf Coast

The National Hurricane Center has begun issuing advisories on PTC 3.

This afternoon the Hurricane Hunters have been flying around the area of disturbed weather in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. While they have found some circulation, they haven’t seen a very well defined center yet. For that reason, the NHC has upgraded Invest 92L to Potential Tropical Cyclone 3 so they can start putting more information out to people.

The first advisory says pressure is at 1008mb, winds are at 30mph, and movement is N at 9mph.

They expect a depression to form overnight or early Friday and then a tropical storm to form back Friday afternoon. If winds can reach 40mph, the system would become Tropical Storm Claudette.

The forecast path brings the center of the storm in between Lafayette and Houma, LA on Saturday morning.

IMPACTS:

Remember, the impacts from this storm are going to be mainly focused well east of the center. Heavy rain and flooding will spread across SE Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Friday through Saturday.

We will also have to watch for a little bit of storm surge from onshore flow and a few tornadoes. 2-3 feet of surge is possible along the SE Louisiana coast, 1-2 for Central Louisiana and 1-2 for Lake Pontchartrain.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from Intracoastal City, LA to the AL/FL line. That means tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours. The NHC forecasts winds to be around 45mph at landfall.