Laura may undergo 'rapid strengthening' before slamming Gulf Coast
By
Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist &
Jake Sojda, AccuWeather meteorologist &
Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Aug 24, 2020 4:57 PM EDT
|
Updated Aug 25, 2020 12:23 PM EDT
After lashing parts of the Caribbean with deadly force over the weekend, Laura is expected to continue to strengthen as it tracks over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and to unleash a blow of hurricane-force winds and flooding rainfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast at midweek--just over 48 hours after Marco's landfall.
Laura was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday morning. Laura is forecast to reach major hurricane status as at least a Category 3, prior to landfall. A major hurricane has maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
Laura left behind damage and flooding while it pushed across the northern Caribbean as a tropical storm. At least 13 deaths have been blamed on Laura, four of which occurred in the Dominican Republic and nine in Haiti. Several remained missing on Monday.
At 7 a.m. CDT Tuesday, the storm was about 145 miles northwest of the western tip of Cuba and 625 miles southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. Laura's forward speed was 17 mph to the west-northwest, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
A satellite view of Tropical Storm Laura as it enters the Gulf of Mexico early Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. (AccuWeather)
A hurricane watch was issued for part of Louisiana and Texas coasts on Monday afternoon around the area where Laura is projected to make landfall. This watch is in effect from Port Bolivar, Texas, to the west of Morgan City, Louisiana.
Tropical storm warnings were issued early Monday morning for the middle and lower Florida Keys from Craig Key westward to Key West in Florida. Late Monday evening, the tropical storm warning was discontinued for the middle Florida Keys, but remained in effect for the lower Florida Keys. Early Tuesday morning, all warnings for Florida were discontinued as Laura continued to move farther to the west.
Although some gusty showers and thunderstorms on the outer periphery of the storm reached the Florida Keys on Monday night, with wind gusts of 40-50 mph, the brunt of Laura's wrath is set to charge toward parts of the central and northwestern U.S. Gulf Coast.
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Laura will take a curved path into the central Gulf of Mexico around a strengthening and westward-extending high pressure system, known as the Bermuda-Azores high pressure area.
"Laura will briefly track over the shallow wake of cooler water left in the Gulf from Marco; this might slow Laura's intensification process but only briefly," AccuWeather's Lead Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said. "Then, Laura will be over very warm water and in a low wind shear environment, which will favor strengthening."
Kottlowski also mentioned that this favorable region may allow Laura to "rapidly strengthen," opening up the possibility for Laura to briefly become a major hurricane at Category 3 strength, with maximum sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
AccuWeather meteorologists are, in fact, predicting that Laura will make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm is expected to strike near the Texas/Louisiana border late Wednesday or Wednesday night.
In the United States, Laura is forecast to be a 3 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes, a scale that rates tropical systems from less than one and 1 to 5 based on expected impacts.
Impacts are forecast to reach the southern coasts of Louisiana first early on Wednesday morning in the form of torrential, tropical rainfall and gusty winds.
The strongest winds will likely be near the center and just to the east of the eye of the storm. Hurricane-force winds are expected to begin as Laura strengthens over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday night.
Damaging winds will reach the central Gulf Coast at midweek, with wind gusts of 100-120 mph near where Laura makes landfall with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gust of 130 mph.
"These winds can cause power outages and damage to structures and trees," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said.
Trees that are sitting in soil that has already been saturated by Marco will be more susceptible to being toppled in Laura's fierce winds.
In addition to wind, Laura will also bring life-threatening flooding.
"Rainfall from Laura may fall across the same places that received tremendous rainfall from Marco, further exacerbating the flooding situation along the Gulf coast," Rossio said.
The combination of Marco's heavy rain from the western Florida Panhandle to central Louisiana and another round of tropical downpours from Laura will make areas more susceptible than usual to flooding.
From Laura alone, the highest rainfall totals of 4-8 inches with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches will be most likely in southern Louisiana.
As is typically the case with a land-falling tropical system, isolated tornadoes will be possible north and east of the center of the storm. In addition, the Louisiana coastline is likely to take another battering with rough surf, beach erosion and significant coastal flooding from storm surge.
The coastal inundation from the storm surge could approach 10 feet around Cameron, Louisiana. This would be high enough to completely submerge the first floor of a structure located along the coast.
All residents are urged to pay attention to evacuation orders from local officials.
Laura is likely to still pack a punch in terms of wind and rain as it tracks through the Mississippi and Ohio valleys late in the week. Enough rain can fall in these areas to produce flash flooding, and wind damage and isolated tornadoes will still be possible.
Laura developed in the Atlantic just a couple of hundred miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands on Friday morning, shattering the record for the earliest "L"-named storm on record in the basin. The previous "L" storm record was held by Luis, which formed on Aug. 29, 1995.
Prior to Laura's formation, Cristobal, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine and Kyle had all set new records for their designated letters in 2020.
AccuWeather meteorologists expect a hyperactive peak hurricane season, which is now underway, and like the notorious 2005 season, Greek letters may be needed beyond the designated list of names for the 2020 season. AccuWeather meteorologists are calling for up to 24 tropical storms, 11 of which could strengthen into hurricanes, this season.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Hurricane
Laura may undergo 'rapid strengthening' before slamming Gulf Coast
By Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist & Jake Sojda, AccuWeather meteorologist & Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Aug 24, 2020 4:57 PM EDT | Updated Aug 25, 2020 12:23 PM EDT
After lashing parts of the Caribbean with deadly force over the weekend, Laura is expected to continue to strengthen as it tracks over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and to unleash a blow of hurricane-force winds and flooding rainfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast at midweek--just over 48 hours after Marco's landfall.
Laura was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday morning. Laura is forecast to reach major hurricane status as at least a Category 3, prior to landfall. A major hurricane has maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
Laura left behind damage and flooding while it pushed across the northern Caribbean as a tropical storm. At least 13 deaths have been blamed on Laura, four of which occurred in the Dominican Republic and nine in Haiti. Several remained missing on Monday.
At 7 a.m. CDT Tuesday, the storm was about 145 miles northwest of the western tip of Cuba and 625 miles southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. Laura's forward speed was 17 mph to the west-northwest, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
A satellite view of Tropical Storm Laura as it enters the Gulf of Mexico early Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. (AccuWeather)
A hurricane watch was issued for part of Louisiana and Texas coasts on Monday afternoon around the area where Laura is projected to make landfall. This watch is in effect from Port Bolivar, Texas, to the west of Morgan City, Louisiana.
Tropical storm warnings were issued early Monday morning for the middle and lower Florida Keys from Craig Key westward to Key West in Florida. Late Monday evening, the tropical storm warning was discontinued for the middle Florida Keys, but remained in effect for the lower Florida Keys. Early Tuesday morning, all warnings for Florida were discontinued as Laura continued to move farther to the west.
Although some gusty showers and thunderstorms on the outer periphery of the storm reached the Florida Keys on Monday night, with wind gusts of 40-50 mph, the brunt of Laura's wrath is set to charge toward parts of the central and northwestern U.S. Gulf Coast.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Laura will take a curved path into the central Gulf of Mexico around a strengthening and westward-extending high pressure system, known as the Bermuda-Azores high pressure area.
"Laura will briefly track over the shallow wake of cooler water left in the Gulf from Marco; this might slow Laura's intensification process but only briefly," AccuWeather's Lead Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said. "Then, Laura will be over very warm water and in a low wind shear environment, which will favor strengthening."
Kottlowski also mentioned that this favorable region may allow Laura to "rapidly strengthen," opening up the possibility for Laura to briefly become a major hurricane at Category 3 strength, with maximum sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
AccuWeather meteorologists are, in fact, predicting that Laura will make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm is expected to strike near the Texas/Louisiana border late Wednesday or Wednesday night.
In the United States, Laura is forecast to be a 3 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes, a scale that rates tropical systems from less than one and 1 to 5 based on expected impacts.
Impacts are forecast to reach the southern coasts of Louisiana first early on Wednesday morning in the form of torrential, tropical rainfall and gusty winds.
The strongest winds will likely be near the center and just to the east of the eye of the storm. Hurricane-force winds are expected to begin as Laura strengthens over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday night.
Damaging winds will reach the central Gulf Coast at midweek, with wind gusts of 100-120 mph near where Laura makes landfall with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gust of 130 mph.
"These winds can cause power outages and damage to structures and trees," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said.
Trees that are sitting in soil that has already been saturated by Marco will be more susceptible to being toppled in Laura's fierce winds.
In addition to wind, Laura will also bring life-threatening flooding.
"Rainfall from Laura may fall across the same places that received tremendous rainfall from Marco, further exacerbating the flooding situation along the Gulf coast," Rossio said.
The combination of Marco's heavy rain from the western Florida Panhandle to central Louisiana and another round of tropical downpours from Laura will make areas more susceptible than usual to flooding.
From Laura alone, the highest rainfall totals of 4-8 inches with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches will be most likely in southern Louisiana.
As is typically the case with a land-falling tropical system, isolated tornadoes will be possible north and east of the center of the storm. In addition, the Louisiana coastline is likely to take another battering with rough surf, beach erosion and significant coastal flooding from storm surge.
The coastal inundation from the storm surge could approach 10 feet around Cameron, Louisiana. This would be high enough to completely submerge the first floor of a structure located along the coast.
All residents are urged to pay attention to evacuation orders from local officials.
Related:
Laura is likely to still pack a punch in terms of wind and rain as it tracks through the Mississippi and Ohio valleys late in the week. Enough rain can fall in these areas to produce flash flooding, and wind damage and isolated tornadoes will still be possible.
Laura developed in the Atlantic just a couple of hundred miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands on Friday morning, shattering the record for the earliest "L"-named storm on record in the basin. The previous "L" storm record was held by Luis, which formed on Aug. 29, 1995.
Prior to Laura's formation, Cristobal, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine and Kyle had all set new records for their designated letters in 2020.
AccuWeather meteorologists expect a hyperactive peak hurricane season, which is now underway, and like the notorious 2005 season, Greek letters may be needed beyond the designated list of names for the 2020 season. AccuWeather meteorologists are calling for up to 24 tropical storms, 11 of which could strengthen into hurricanes, this season.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo