Tropics Aren’t Quiet But There is No Imminent Threat to Louisiana

Over the weekend Tropical Storm Henri made landfall in Rhode Island. The storm system wasn't that much of a treacherous weather maker but it was still a tropical storm. That meant power outages, storm surge, and flooding throughout many parts of the New England coastline. While we don't want to diminish the threat and the actual damage potential, we are happy to report that it could have been a lot worse and it wasn't.

I'd love to be able to report to you that after Henri's landfall Sunday and the landfall of Hurricane Grace last week, we will have some quiet time in the tropics, but that is not the case. However, we can at least report to you that Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico in general are not under the gun.

Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center are watching two areas of disturbed weather for further development this morning. One of those areas is just to the east of the Cape Verde Islands. Forecasters have given this storm system a slight chance of developing into a tropical cyclone over the next five days.

As of now the projected track of this storm system is to the northwest. Should that be the case the system would be located in the open waters of the Mid-Atlantic near Bermuda by later this week. That is if the system develops at all. Right now, forecasters do not perceive this system to be a threat to the Gulf of Mexico or even the continental United States but only time will bear that hypothesis out.

A little closer to home forecasters are going to be watching for development in the western Caribbean over the next five days.

A broad area of low pressure is expected to develop just off the coast of Guatemala and Honduras in the next few days. That system could develop into a tropical cyclone but as of now the thinking among tropical weather specialists is that it won't. They've only given that system a 20% probability of strengthening into a cyclone over the next five days.

So for the near term in southern Louisiana, our weather focus will need to be on beating the heat. A heat advisory has been posted for much of the area for later today. Heat indices could rise to readings of 110 to 113 degrees during the hottest parts of the day.

If you do have to be outside, make sure you're getting plenty of water and taking frequent breaks. Also, now would be a good time to make yourself and your co-workers aware of the signs of heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

Rain chances will be minimal for the area today but are expected to ramp up, especially for afternoon and early evening showers and thunderstorms by Tuesday. It does appear as if the area will have a significant threat of rain and storms each day, Tuesday through the weekend.