Tropical storm warning extends to Florida’s panhandle

Robin Webb and Keven Lerner, South Florida Sun Sentinel
·2 min read

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A tropical storm warning was posted for the U.S. coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle on Friday as a weather system in the Gulf of Mexico strengthened and marched north, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The National Hurricane Center extended its tropical-storm warning from Intracoastal City, Louisiana to the Alabama/Florida border including the Okaloosa-Walton county line, according to the 8 a.m. update. The warning also includes Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Metropolitan New Orleans to the west.

The system is expected to become a tropical depression, with the forecast having it intensifying into Tropical Storm Claudette later Friday.

Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall in the early morning hours of Saturday and produce heavy rain and strong winds along a wide area of the coast.

It has a 90% chance of developing within the next 48 hours, and the chances remain the same through the next five days. The system will approach the north-central Gulf Coast late Friday or early Saturday and turn northeast after landfall. Maximum winds are at 35 mph, but strengthening is in the forecast through Friday.

As of 8 a.m. the system was located 255 miles south of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 385 miles south-southwest of Mobile, Alabama, while moving north at 14 mph.

Rainfall totals could fall between 4 and 8 inches and as high as 12 inches in some areas starting Friday.

The hurricane center warned of flash, urban and small-stream flooding as a result of the heavy rainfall and said river flooding could occur as the storm hits areas with elevated rivers.

Tornadoes could occur across coastal areas of Louisiana starting Friday afternoon, and southern areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama could see tornadic activity from Friday night into Saturday.

Storm surge could reach 2 to 3 feet from Intracoastal City to the Mississippi-Alabama border and at Vermilion Bay and Lake Borgne. Other areas of Louisiana, from Cameron to Intracoastal City and Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, and the area between the Mississippi/Alabama and Alabama/Florida borders could see between 1 and 3 feet of storm surge.

“Tropical storm conditions are expected to begin Friday in areas near and well to the east of the center along portions of the central Gulf Coast from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Alabama/Florida border, including New Orleans,” the hurricane center said.

After Claudette, which would be the third named storm of the year, the next named storm to form would be Danny. Systems must produce winds of 39 mph or more to gain tropical storm status.

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