Weather Blog

Dave Nussbaum
dnussbaum@wbrz.com

Gustav Latest:  The remnants of Gustav are located about 20 miles WNW of Texarkana.  It is drifting toward the NNW near 3 mph.  Winds are only sustained at 20 mph with higher gusts.  The storm continues to weaken, but will still spread heavy rain from Louisiana through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi. 

Short Term:  It is a cloudy, dreary, and wet morning across the Baton Rouge area.  A few lines, or feeder bands, of rain will move across the city.  This could bring some heavy downpours once again.  Temperatures are warm and muggy as they sit around 80. 

More scattered showers and thunderstorms will greet us again this afternoon.  However, we could see a few peaks of sunshine today.   The only benefit of the clouds and rain, is that we are not too hot.  That would only make things worse since many of you do not have A/C.  Some of the rain bands could contain tornadoes.  Only a few will be possible, but they are still in the forecast.  It will be a little warmer, but still very humid with highs in the mid 80s.

Isolated showers will continue overnight with mostly cloudy skies.  It will still be humid, so with those of you without power, look for another sticky night.  Lows will fall into the upper 70s. 

Clean Up:  If you are planning on cleaning up your yard and house today be careful!  Showers and thunderstorms are expected again today, and that could make things difficult.  Watch out for some breezy conditions when putting those tarps up.  If you hear thunder, get inside immediately so you don't get struck by lightning. 

Flooding:  Due to all of the heavy rain around the Baton Rouge area from Gustav, area rivers, streams, drainage ditches and creeks will be on the rise.  Some are in flood right now, while others will be over the next few days.  I am anticipating an additional 3 to 6 inches of rain between today and tomorrow.  This will only add to the high waters.  The Comite, Amite, Tickfaw, and Tangipahoa Rivers are forecast to reach crest stages, and some will go above flood stage.  For more information from the National Weather Service, click these links:

• Area Flood Warnings
• Area Flood Statements

The Comite will go over flood stage today, and will remain high. 

The Amite from Denham Springs, to Port Vincent and in between should crest just above flood stages, but not until Thursday and Friday.  Low lying areas will hold water for sure.   

Locations on the Tickfaw will crest just above flood stage as well. 

Lastly, the Tangipahoa River at Robert is forecast to go just above flood stage tomorrow.

Here are some links to get that latest River Information:

• NWS River Data
• USGS River Info

Rest of the Week:  The chance for rain will gradually lower as the week goes on.  On Thursday, the feeder bands going to the remnants of Gustav will still move over Baton Rouge.  Only scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected.  High temperatures will be in the upper 80s.  A scattered thunderstorm will be possible on Friday, otherwise, it will be partly cloudy and warmer.  High temperatures will be in the upper 80s. 

Weekend Outlook:  Drier weather is forecast to come back to Louisiana for the weekend.  Each day will have partly cloudy skies with only a stray afternoon storm possible.  It will become hot with highs in the lower 90s. 

Tropical Outlook:  In the wake of Gustav, we still have 3 tropical systems in the Atlantic Basin.  The first one is Tropical Storm Hanna.  The storm is not looking very good this morning as it goes through the strong wind shear.  This morning the winds were sustained around 60 mph, and it is only drifting to the north near 2 mph.  Pressure is 993 mb. 

Tropical Storm Ike is located in the middle of the Atlantic, or 835 miles ENE of the Leeward Islands.  The storm continues to get better organized, and strengthen.  Winds are up to 65 mph as it moves to the WNW near 18 mph.  The pressure is at 996 mb.  The storm will continue to get stronger and is forecast to become a hurricane later today.  The track takes it westward toward the Bahamas by the weekend, then near Cuba as a category 2 hurricane by easterly Monday morning.  We will need to closely monitor this storm since it could get into the Gulf of Mexico early next week.  However, it is still VERY far off, and a lot could change between now and next week. 

Lastly, we have Tropical Storm Josephine located about 220 miles WSW of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands.  It is moving to the WNW at 13 mph, and this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days.  Winds are up to 60 mph, and some strengthen is forecast over the next few days.  The pressure is 1000 mb. 

You can now track storms with our NEW Storm Tracker located on our website.  Click here for the Storm Tracker.

Elsewhere. . .fortunately, everything else is quiet, and tropical cyclone formation is not expected through Thursday.

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