Weather Channel 06:50 Update - TS Edouard

TS Edouard continues to move slowly across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Winds at 50 mph, Edouard is currently due south of New Orleans. Thunderstorms and heavy rain is possible across the entire Louisiana and Texas coastlines and swimmers need to watch for dangerous waves and rip currents.

As the Weather Channel points out, the longer Eduard stays over the water the greater the potential for development and it is possible that Edouard may reach a Cat 1 hurricane status before making landfall. I've heard wind speed estimates from 69 MPH to 75 MPH making Edouard a very strong tropical storm or low grade hurricane.

If you are in the area where Edouard has the potential for landfall, please remember to bring any loose items indoors and secure all shutters, doors and outside furniture to prevents these items from becoming flying projectiles capable of causing more damage.

Edouard remaining steady
John Desjardins, Lead Meteorologist, The
Weather Channel
5:53 a.m. ET 8/4/2008

In the northern Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Edouard appeared ragged for a time overnight. However, heading towards daybreak the storm has begun to look more organized. The latest hurricane hunters found a central pressure of 1002 mb, so its intensity has been fairly steady since Sunday evening.

Edouard was experiencing some northerly shear which caused much of the thunderstorm activity to be located south of the circulation center. But convection has begun to flare around the center and some rainbands are reaching far southeastern Louisiana.

The forecast is for Edouard to intensify as the upper-level environment becomes more favorable for development. The official forecast keeps Edouard below hurricane strength.

The track of Edouard is towards the west-northwest on the southern periphery of the ridge that is baking the south-central U.S. Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings are posted for portions of the upper Texas and Louisiana coasts in anticipation of a potential landfall during the first half of Tuesday.

Elsewhere, a weak low continues to swirl several hundred miles northeast of the Leeward Islands. Development is not expected with this system.