Weather Blog

Dave Nussbaum
dnussbaum@wbrz.com

. . .Tropical Storm Edouard Making Landfall Today. . .

. . .Tropical Storm Warnings Still In Effect. . .
. . .Hurricane Watch Remains In Effect. . .

Edouard:  Tropical Storm Edouard has strengthened overnight, and it is now a strong tropical storm.  Winds have increased to 65 mph with higher gusts.  Edouard is located about 85 miles east of Galveston, TX as of 4:00 AM.  The storm is moving to the WNW at 12 mph.  On this track, Edouard will make landfall Port Arthur, TX/Lake Charles, LA later this morning.  It is still possible for the storm to become a minimal hurricane before it makes landfall.  The pressure has fallen to 997 mb.

Once the storm moves inland this morning, it will continue to spread heavy rain across SW Louisiana and NE Texas.  Rain totals could be around 4 to 6 inches in a few spots.  Flooding will be possible around Lake Charles, Beaumont, Galveston, and around Houston, Texas.  Wind damage will be minor, but there will be trees and power lines down in a few places.  Coastal flooding also possible across Cameron Parish and along the Texas coast. 

Tropical Storm Warnings are still in effect from Grand Isle, LA west to Sargent, Texas.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect from Intracoastal City, LA west to Sargent, Texas. 

Click here for the latest statement from the National Weather Service office for New Orleans/Baton Rouge area.

Keep it tuned to News 2 and Cable Channel 18 throughout the next few days for updates on Edouard.  You can also check out our NEW Storm Tracker on our website.  Click here for the Storm Tracker.

Local Impact:  Here in Baton Rouge, we will have mostly cloudy skies with isolated showers and thunderstorms wrapping around the storm.  A few heavy downpours are possible, but nothing is expected to cause flooding.  The further south you go, the more rain you will get.  Morgan City will see a little more rain as the storm moves west.  Winds will be around 10 to 20 mph in the morning for much of the area, but they will taper off to 5 to 15 mph in the afternoon.  The skies will go partly cloudy this afternoon with a few lingering showers and thunderstorms.  Temperatures climbing into the lower 90s in Baton Rouge, but the upper 80s as you go west.  Tonight, the skies will remain partly cloudy with lows in the lower to mid 70s. 

Week Ahead:  A large area of high pressure will settle over us on Wednesday and Thursday.   This will give us partly cloudy skies, and only a small chance for a stray thunderstorm.  The chance will be at 20%.  It will become pretty hot with highs in the mid 90s.  The Heat Index will be around 100 to 105. 

On Friday and into the weekend, a weak cold front, or trough of low pressure will move over us.  It is rare to get a cold front to make it this far south, but they happen from time to time.  This will set off scattered showers and thunderstorms.  Temperatures will be in the lower 90s each day with lows in the mid 70s.  Do not look for a "cool down" with this front.  Those types of cold fronts will not make it here until the Fall. 

Tropical Outlook:  For more information on Tropical Storm Edouard, see above.  Other than Edouard, the tropics are quiet, and tropical storm formation is not expected through Wednesday.

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