Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker

A single source reference on tropical weather predictions. With a traditional focus on the upper Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast we've maintained links to track all Atlantic Basin, Caribbean and eastern Pacific storm systems. We are now expanding our view to tropical storms throughout the world intending to be a comprehensive global storm tracking resource.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

TD #5 circles around for a second pass

The remnants of tropical depression 5 came ashore in South Louisiana last week and meandered around the southeast US for several days. A few days ago this storm wandered back out into the Gulf of Mexico heading once again for New Orleans. The path of this storm was described quite well by a friend as follows:

So the storm wanders over New Orleans, loops back across Birmingham, stops in Atlanta for a coke, meanders back South grabbing some Vidalia onions along the way, drifts back out into the Gulf, and is now threatening to re-strengthen again into a proper tropical depression...

With a track heading West/Northwest towards, you guessed it, New Orleans.
A rather accurate depiction, I must say.

This storm was given a 60% change of organizing back into a named storm by the NHC yesterday but quickly dissipated once again as it drifted near and over land.

Gulf Storm System Again Appears Down For The Count (National Underwriter Property and Casualty)

Once again, the storm in the Gulf of Mexico called “Tropical Depression Five” has moved onshore and now has a “near 0 percent” chance of forming into a tropical storm over the next 48 hours.

Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide said the storm will bring rainfall to some parts of the Mississippi coast, but the impact is “not expected to be significant.”

AIR also said further development of the system is not expected.

Late last week, the storm made landfall in Louisiana but failed to intensify into a tropical storm. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) described the storm as poorly organized at the time, and as of Aug. 12 the NHC gave the storm a near 0 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within 48 hours.

Yesterday, the NHC gave the storm a high chance—60 percent—of becoming a tropical cyclone as it moved back over the Gulf and as conditions became conducive for the storm to develop.
As the storm once again comes ashore, it threatens to bring heavy rain to southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi. Unstable weather resulting in rain bands and thunderstorms are even being seen in Alabama and scattered areas in Georgia.

Tropical Depression 5 Remnants Still Impacting Gulf Coast(AccuWeather)
Once again, the remnants of Tropical Depression 5 have moved inland over the central Gulf Coast. The system will continue spreading heavy thunderstorms through parts of Louisiana and Mississippi as it slowly creeps north-northwestward over the next couple of days.

In areas that have been soaked by this system on a daily basis since the middle of last week, especially in Mississippi, the ground is already saturated. It will not take much additional rain to cause flash flooding in these places.

The system will, however be tracking a bit farther to the west across the Lower Mississippi Valley than it did late last week. Thus areas farther west through Louisiana will pick up more significant rainfall with this round. In many of these areas, the rain is much-needed.

Rainfall totals are expected to reach 3 to 4 inches from eastern Louisiana into southern Mississippi through Wednesday with locally higher amounts possible. An additional 1 to 2 inches could fall in these areas Thursday.

2010 Atlantic Hurricanes (courtesy of Weatherstreet.com)

NOAA Gulf of Mexico Radar (courtesy of Weatherstreet.com)

NOAA West Atlantic & Caribbean Radar (courtesy of Weatherstreet.com)

NOAA East Atlantic Radar (courtesy of Weatherstreet.com)