Tropical Disturbance Threatens Days of Heavy Rain Along the Gulf Coast
Key Things to Know
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said there's a 40 percent chance the system could intensify into a tropical depression on Wednesday, before it pushes into southern Louisiana on Thursday and then likely weakens.
Heavy rain could produce localized flash flooding over portions of Florida through Wednesday and could also bring flooding to coastal areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, beginning Wednesday and continuing through the weekend.
Multiple flood watches were in place along the Gulf Coast.
A tropical disturbance is a loose cluster of rain showers and thunderstorms. It's often the first stage in a tropical storm but this system off the coast of Florida is not expected to become a named storm.
The disturbance was drifting westward across the central portion of the Florida Peninsula on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain in an area spread between Orlando and Jacksonville. A series of flood watches were in effect across Central Florida with most locations predicted to measure two to four inches of rain.
North Florida and the Panhandle are expected to get hit with heavy rain on Tuesday into Wednesday as the disturbance moves west into the northeast Gulf.
As the disturbance moves over the water on Wednesday, it's likely to organize into a tropical depression, pushing across the Gulf and bringing a chance for heavy rain to coastal areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
On Thursday, the system is expected to veer north, pushing inland into southern Louisiana.
New Orleans is most likely to receive three to six inches of rain Wednesday to Sunday, but could measure up to eight to 10 inches of rain in the worst case scenario, according to the Weather Service.
Exactly how much rain falls will depend on the path of the disturbance. New Orleans will see more rain if it tracks further east. If it moves west, Baton Rouge could see more rain, but so could the Atchafalaya Basin, a swamp area where flooding is less of a concern.
'The bulk of the rainfall will be on Thursday and Friday, lingering into Saturday, potentially even Sunday,' said Megan Williams, a meteorologist at the Weather Service office serving the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas.
The Atlantic hurricane season got off to a slow start. But forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said they expect it to be an above-average season, with 13 to 19 total named storms by the time the it ends in November. A typical season has 14 named storms.
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