As of the 8:00 a.m. NHC advisory on Monday, Tropical Storm Delta was about 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of Negril, Jamaica, moving toward the west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). Maximum sustained winds are 40 mph (65 kph) – along with higher gusts.
Tropical Storm Delta started out as a Potential Tropical Cyclone 26 by the National Hurricane Center on Sunday. By Sunday night, Tropical Depression 26 had formed just south of Jamaica, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. It quickly strengthened and just before 8:00 a.m. Monday morning became a tropical storm.
It is expected that the storm will rapidly intensify once it is pulled northward into the central Gulf of Mexico in the next day or so. Delta will be moving into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico Tuesday night or early Wednesday. By then, the tropical storm is expected to be a hurricane when it moves near or over western Cuba.
NOLA.com is reporting that the National Hurricane Center has Delta making landfall Friday as a Category 2 hurricane in southeast Louisiana, but the track has an average error of 160 to 200 miles this far out.
As for Delta’s forecast track, if could end up depending a bit on what happens to the remnants of Tropical Storm Gamma. “Gamma is sending a rich plume of tropical moisture across most of the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico, where there is also an area of lower wind shear,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz.
“Heavy, flooding rainfall will be the primary concern from Delta as it tracks across the Caribbean,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Randy Adkins said. Delta’s winds could reach Louisiana as early as Thursday morning, forecasters said, but the most likely timing is Thursday night.
On the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the wind categories are:
Tropical storm: 39 to 73 mph
Category 1 hurricane: 74 to 95 mph
Category 2 hurricane: 96 to 110 mph
Category 3 hurricane (major hurricane): 111 to 129 mph
Category 4 hurricane: 130-156 mph
Category 5 hurricane: 157 mph and higher
