Hurricane Laura Expected to Bring Rain and Wind to West Tennessee
Weather Update – 11:30 p.m. – Tuesday, August 25th
Scattered showers will continue to linger in West Tennessee tonight. Heavy rainfall is possible in some spots but so far today we have not had much lightning and shouldn’t expect much if any more. There could be a LOT more rain with high winds too when hurricane Laura is expected to move through the Mid-South later this week.
TONIGHT
Rain remain light overnight with a slight chance for showers to continue into Wednesday morning. Temperatures will only drop to the lower 70s by sunrise with light winds and patchy dense fog at the start of the day.
Under partly cloudy skies temperatures will peak in the middle 80s tomorrow. Stray showers and thunderstorms are possible during the morning and afternoon with rain expected to taper off in the evening. Be on the lookout for any thunderstorms that could produce heavy rainfall and frequent lightning. Laura will bring more rain and wind to West Tennessee on Friday. There is a potential for a significant amount of rainfall and wind gusts over 40 mph later this week so stay tuned to WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News for the latest forecast, and for more updates keep up with Storm Team Weather online too.
TROPICAL UPDATE – National Hurricane Center, 10:00 p.m. CDT
At 10:00 PM CDT, the center of Hurricane Laura was located near latitude 25.2 North, longitude 89.5 West. Laura is moving toward the west-northwest near 17 mph. and this general motion should continue overnight. A turn toward the northwest is forecast on Wednesday, and a northwestward to north-northwestward motion should continue through Wednesday night. On the forecast track, the center of Laura will move across the northwestern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday. The hurricane should approach the Upper Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts on Wednesday evening and move inland near those areas Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 90 mph with higher gusts. Significant strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours, and Laura is expected to be a major hurricane at landfall. Rapid weakening is expected after Laura makes landfall. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles. NOAA buoy 42001 in the central Gulf of Mexico recently reported a sustained wind of 45 mph and a gust to 54 mph. The minimum central pressure estimated from Hurricane Hunter observations is 978 mb.
HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
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STORM SURGE: The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide…
Sea Rim State Park TX to Intracoastal City LA including Sabine Lake and Calcasieu Lake…9-14 ft
Intracoastal City to Morgan City including Vermilion Bay…7-11 ft
Port Bolivar TX to Sea Rim State Park…6-9 ft
Morgan City LA to Mouth of the Mississippi River…4-6 ft
San Luis Pass TX to Port Bolivar…3-5 ft
Galveston Bay…3-5 ft
Freeport TX to San Luis Pass…2-4 ft
Mouth of the Mississippi River to Ocean Springs MS including Lake Borgne…2-4 ft
Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas…2-4 ft
The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to the right of the landfall location, where the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves. This storm surge could penetrate up to 30 miles inland from the immediate coastline in southwestern Louisiana and far southeastern Texas.
Surge-related flooding depends on the relative timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and can vary greatly over short distances. For information specific to your area, please see products issued by your local National Weather Service forecast office.
RAINFALL: From Wednesday afternoon through Friday, Laura is expected to produce rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches across portions of the northwestern Gulf Coast from western Louisiana to far eastern Texas, and northward into much of Arkansas. Over the lower to middle Mississippi Valley from central Louisiana into western Tennessee and Kentucky, and southeastern Missouri, 2 to 4 inches of rainfall with isolated totals of 6 inches are expected. This rainfall will cause widespread flash and urban flooding, small streams to overflow their banks, and minor to isolated moderate river flooding.
By late Friday into Saturday, portions of the Tennessee and Ohio Valley could see 2 to 4 inches with locally higher amounts as tropical moisture from Laura moves through the region. This rainfall could lead to localized flash and urban flooding along small streams.
WIND: Hurricane conditions are expected in the hurricane warning area Wednesday night and Thursday. Tropical storm conditions are expected to reach the coast in the hurricane warning area late Wednesday or Wednesday night, and are expected in the tropical storm warning area Wednesday night and Thursday.
Hurricane-force winds and damaging wind gusts are also expected to spread well inland into portions of eastern Texas and western Louisiana early Thursday.
TORNADOES: A few tornadoes are expected Wednesday evening into Wednesday night over Louisiana, far southeast Texas, and southwestern Mississippi. The risk for a few tornadoes should continue into Thursday across Louisiana, Arkansas, and western Mississippi.
SURF: Swells produced by Laura are affecting the U.S. Gulf coast from the west coast of Florida to Louisiana and are expected to reach the coast of Texas and northeastern Mexico overnight and on Wednesday. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
Tom Meiners
Storm Team 7 Chief Meteorologist, CBM
Twitter – @WBBJ7TomMeiners
Facebook – http://facebook.com/WBBJ.tom.meiners
Email – tmeiners@wbbjtv.com
