The National Hurricane Center issued an 11:00 a.m. advisory for the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. A tropical wave creating thunderstorms from Hispaniola to the Turks and Caicos Islands is forecast to hit the Bahamas over the Labor Day weekend then move across Florida into the Gulf of Mexico.
The National Hurricane Center does not expect the system to develop into something more serious over the next several days, but once it enters the Gulf of Mexico, and during the early to middle part of next week. environmental conditions will become a little more favorable for a surface low-pressure area to form when the disturbance moves across the Gulf.
But right now, this tropical plume of moisture will not only put a damper on Labor Day festivities, but it can unleash a considerable amount of rainfall, leading to localized torrential downpours and flash flooding from parts of Texas and Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
“Embedded in this tropical flow of moisture are weak disturbances that can greatly enhance rainfall at the local level,” according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.
A tropical wave is producing numerous showers and thunderstorms across Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Significant development is unlikely until this system moves into the Gulf of Mexico next week where it has a medium chance of becoming a tropical cyclone. pic.twitter.com/BGoPnEEGet
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 1, 2018
Besides the system dumping 1-3 inches of rain per hour, leading to the possibility of flash flooding, indications are good the system is likely to bulge northwestward toward north-central and northeastern Texas and northern Louisiana as the Labor Day weekend progresses. Coastal waters could rise 1 to 2 feet above normal,
A coastal flood advisory has been issued in Louisiana for all or part of nine parishes: upper Jefferson, Livingston, Orleans, lower Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany and southern Tangipahoa. Also in the advisory is Hancock County, Miss.
Potential Cyclone 6, located a couple hundred miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands off the coast of Africa, has now been upgraded to Tropical Storm Florence. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and is moving to the west-northwest at 16 mph (26 kph). Tropical storm force winds extend 45 miles (75 kilometers) out from the center. The minimum central pressure is 1002 mb (29.59 inches).
