A tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico could develop into a hurricane that threatens southern Louisiana and northern coastal Texas on Wednesday.
On Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch from Cameron eastward to Grand Isle in Louisiana. The NHC states in its fourth public advisory that a tropical storm watch has been issued east of High Island, Texas, to Cameron and from Grand Isle to the mouth of the Pearl River, including Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas.
A storm surge watch has also been issued from east of High Island to the Mississippi-Alabama border, including Vermilion Bay, Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain.
What started as a weather disturbance developed into a tropical storm Monday morning, and the NHC forecasts it to further intensify on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The system is moving north-northwest at around 5 mph, and a slow northwestward to northward motion is expected over the next day with a faster motion to the northeast beginning late Tuesday. The NHC forecasts the storm is expected to move offshore to the northern Gulf Coast of Mexico through Tuesday and approach the Louisiana and upper Texas coastline on Wednesday.
According to an NHC advisory Monday morning, the storm’s maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts. Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 160 miles from the center.
The storm is expected to bring total rainfall of 4 to 8 inches, with local amounts to 12 inches, from the coast of far northeast Mexico northward along portions of the southern Texas coast and across southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi into Thursday morning. The NHC warns that this could cause considerable flash and urban flooding.
Additionally, minor coastal flooding is possible along the coast of Mexico in areas of onshore winds. Swells generated by this system are affecting portions of the Gulf coast of Mexico and are expected to spread northwestward across the northwestern Gulf of Mexico coastline through midweek. The NHC states these swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.