Hurricane Delta again strengthening, could hit in Louisiana as Category 2 storm

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Hurricane Delta started strengthening again Wednesday night as it heads for into the warm waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico. For now it’s still a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 90 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. advisory.

It’s still projected to make landfall Friday in Louisiana as a Category 2 storm.

“The majority of (Delta’s impact) at this point looks like it’ll be in the Lake Charles area, and then a little bit into our area,” said meteorologist Tim Destri of the National Weather Service New Orleans/Baton Rouge office.

Delta could become a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds by Friday morning, according to The Weather Channel.

Tropical-storm-force winds could arrive Thursday to the U.S. Gulf Coast, which is preparing for Delta’s projected Friday landfall.

The college football game between Louisiana State University and Missouri scheduled for 9 p.m. Saturday in Baton Rouge, La., has been moved to Columbia, Mo. The game will kickoff at noon Saturday.

Many New Orleans-area high school football games have also been moved from their usual Friday night dates to Wednesday and Thursday.

The New Orleans Saints are reportedly thinking of moving their Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers to Indianapolis, if necessary.

Forecasters aren’t certain how long the storm will keep growing.

“How much larger, it remains to be seen,” Destri said.

It also remains to be seen whether gas prices or, for those up north, heating oil prices, will be affected by Hurricane Delta. Numerous oil rigs are in the Gulf of Mexico between Texas and Louisiana and numerous refineries are in those states.

“I can only speak speculatively based on history,” said Paul Courreges, communication director for the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, “and whenever you have a disruption you generally tend to see those prices rise.”

But Courreges said it’s tough to say anything for certain because the U.S. dependence on crude oil from the Gulf of Mexico has declined in recent years due to fracking, extracting oil and gas from deep underground, and increased production in Texas’ Permian Basin, located in the Odessa-Midland area.

David Dismukes, professor and executive director at LSU’s Center for Energy Studies, said 30 to 40% of U.S. oil refineries are in Delta’s projected path. But he said supply is high right now and prices are soft due to reduced demand as a result of COVID-19.

Dismukes said if oil rigs are shut down by Delta the U.S. could simply import more crude oil.

“If the refinery gets torn up you do have some more lasting impact on domestic markets,” he said.

But Courreges and Dismukes said it’s doubtful Hurricane Delta will make a big impact on gas prices.

Regardless, Delta is expected to have serious consequences. The National Hurricane Center said “life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds (are) increasingly likely along portions of the northern Gulf Coast beginning Friday.”

A storm surge watch was put in effect Wednesday for an area ranging from High Island, Texas, to the Alabama-Florida border. A hurricane watch is in effect for an area ranging from High Island to Grand Isle, La., and a tropical storm watch is in effect for areas in Texas and Louisiana.

The center of Delta made landfall at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday along the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, near Puerto Morelos, as Category 2 storm, according to the hurricane center.

As of 8 p.m. Delta — the earliest 25th-named storm ever to form — was located about 550 miles south-southeast of Cameron, Louisiana, traveling northwest at 17 mph. Delta is no longer projected to strengthen to Category 4.

Louisiana, Mississippi and a sliver of southeast Texas remain in the forecast path. The track shifted away from Florida’s Panhandle on Tuesday night.

In addition to life-threatening storm surge and dangerous winds, Delta is expected to inundate the region with up to 8 inches of rain, and up to 1 foot in isolated amounts along the northern Gulf Coast and lower Mississippi Valley, creating the potential for flash flooding and river flooding, according to the hurricane center.

Conditions could be conducive for prolonged flooding in the region.

Delta is projected to have winds in the 100 mph range when it makes landfall along the Gulf Coast.

It’s the strongest storm ever named after a letter in the Greek alphabet, eclipsing Hurricane Beta in 2005, which reached 115 mph.

Delta underwent rapid intensification Tuesday, which is defined as an increase of maximum sustained winds by at least 35 mph in a 24-hour period. In 36 hours, Delta went from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane.

“Delta is the fastest storm to intensify from tropical depression to a Category 4 storm in modern records,” said Michael Ventrice, meteorological scientist for The Weather Company.

Delta beat Hurricane Keith (2000) by six hours for most rapid intensification.

The storm-weary Gulf Coast is in the cone of concern for the sixth time in the 2020 hurricane season.

Louisiana and Alabama have already declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm.

Delta is a relatively small storm with hurricane-force-winds extending 35 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds 125 miles from the center, according to Wednesday’s latest advisory.

Even though an eyewall replacement cycle might prevent Delta from getting much stronger, its increase in size could increase the wind field.

“It’s probably going to be anywhere from 20 to 30% larger,” said Michael Ventrice, a meteorological scientist at The Weather Company, “and this typically results in an expansion of the wind field compared to what it is as a smaller hurricane and a smaller eye.”

This has been a busy hurricane season with nine named storms making landfall in the U.S., which ties the record number established in 1916. Beta became the first storm named after a letter of the Greek alphabet to make landfall in the continental U.S. when it came ashore near Port O’Connor, Texas on Sept. 21.

The Gulf Coast was hit twice in September. In addition, to Beta, Hurricane Sally made landfall on Sept. 16 near Gulf Shores, Alabama.

In late August, the region was pummeled in a 72-hour period by Hurricane Laura and Tropical Storm Marco. Laura came ashore in coastal Louisiana at Category 4 strength. Marco, which had briefly been a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, made landfall as a tropical storm near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Hurricane Hanna made landfall in southern Texas in late July. And Tropical Storm Cristobal made a second landfall on the Louisiana coast on June 7.

October storms often threaten Florida as they move north and then northeastward. But none of the nine storms that hit the continental U.S. this year made landfall in Florida.

Delta broke the record for the earliest 25th named storm ever to form, eclipsing the previous mark of Nov. 15, 2005, when Tropical Storm Gamma briefly formed in the Caribbean Sea.

If Delta maintains its current forecast track, it would break a record by becoming the 10th named storm in a hurricane season to make landfall in the continental U.S. It would also be “the first-ever hurricane named after a Greek letter to strike the U.S.,” according to AccuWeather.

Delta is also chasing the record 2005 hurricane season, which had 27 named storms. In that year there were 14 named hurricanes and seven major hurricanes — three of which (Katrina, Rita and Wilma) — reached Category 5 status. On Dec. 30, 2005, Tropical Storm Zeta formed as the 28th named storm of the year, setting the all-time record.

After Delta, the next storms would be named Epsilon, Zeta and Eta.

Because 2020 is a La Niña year, forecasters expect late-season storm activity to increase in October and possibly even carry into November. Hurricane season officially ends Nov. 30.

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