HURRICANE LAURA CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN; P.M. STORMS LOCALLY… Hurricane Laura continues to barrel toward eastern Texas and western Louisiana this morning as a strong, category 2 hurricane. Laura is being driven by a large ridge of high pressure that ultimately saved our local area from any significant impacts. Significant local impacts due to Laura are not expected in south Alabama or northwest Florida, thankfully. Dangerous rip currents and high waves are happening at local beaches due to the swells generated by Laura, and folks headed to the beach should expect to have red flags flying for the next few days. Locally, we have a seasonal summer day on tap with high temperatures expected to be in the low-90s with a chance of showers and thunderstorms today and over the next few days. See all of your Wednesday forecast details below.
DANGEROUS HURRICANE LAURA BARRELING TOWARD LA & TX… Laura continues to increase in strength and in its overall satellite presentation on this Wednesday morning. This is setting up to be a potentially dangerous hurricane for parts of eastern Texas and western Louisiana. If you know someone that is involved in a voluntary or mandatory evacuation zone in those two states, get in touch with that person and tell them to HEED the evacuation orders. Peak storm surge of up to 9-13 feet will be possible in the western part of Louisiana. In addition, major hurricane force winds (115+ mph) will be possible where the center of Laura ultimately moves onshore.
HURRICANE WARNING FOR EASTERN TEXAS & WESTERN LOUISIANA… A Hurricane Warning continues this morning for a big stretch of the Louisiana and east Texas coastlines, from San Luis Pass, Texas eastward to Intracoastal City, Louisiana. This area also is under a Storm Surge Warning. A Tropical Storm Warning is also in effect from Intracoastal City, Louisiana eastward to the Mouth of the Mississippi River. Parts of the Houston metro area are under a Hurricane Warning with the western side of the city under a Tropical Storm Warning this morning.
REMAINDER OF ATLANTIC BASIN IS QUIET… Outside of Hurricane Laura in the Gulf of Mexico, the remainder of the Atlantic Basin, including the Caribbean Sea and the open waters of the central Atlantic Ocean are quiet with no new tropical storms expected to develop over the next 3-5 days.
SCATTERED STORMS LIKELY THIS EVENING… Scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely across south Alabama and northwest Florida this afternoon into this evening. Not everyone will have rain before the end of the day, but some spots will have upwards of half an inch of rain due to the scattered storms. High temperatures today will be in the low-90s. I will be posting radar updates as needed today in the RedZone Weather app.
CONSISTENT FORECAST LOCALLY… Now that we know Hurricane Laura will be moving into Louisiana and Texas over the next 48 hours, that has caused our forecast confidence over the next few days to significantly increase. Afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms are expected each day over the next 7 days. High temperatures will consistently be in the low-90s with morning lows in the low- to mid-70s. Some of the storms in the days ahead may produce heavy rain, gusty winds, and cloud-to-ground lightning. Widespread severe weather, however, is not expected.
APP… Be sure to download our free RedZone Weather app if you haven’t done so already. redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you can download the app for your iOS or Android device. Once you have the app downloaded, be sure to visit the Alerts tab in the lower right corner of the app to select the specific notifications you would like to receive straight from me.
See all the details in your Wednesday #rzw forecast video. Have a good Wednesday!