Tropical Storm Bertha Set to Make Landfall in Louisiana Wednesday

Tropical Storm Bertha is bearing down on the northern Gulf Coast, packing flooding rainfall, powerful winds, and dangerous storm surge. Who is in the path of this storm, and when is it expected to make landfall? Read on for all of the latest details.

Bertha Set to Come Ashore in Louisiana, Then Weaken Along the Coast

Tropical Storm Bertha is on a crash course with the southeastern corner of Louisiana. The latest forecast models from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) shows Bertha making landfall near southeastern Louisiana Wednesday evening, then continuing on a slow, coast-hugging track westward through Thursday before weakening to a tropical depression near the Texas-Louisiana border by early Friday morning.

The first landfall is expected to happen at about 5 pm local time Wednesday along the coastline of southeastern Louisiana. Bertha is then forecast to track slowly west, close to shore, through the rest of the week, gradually losing strength as it goes. The likely track of Bertha hugging the coastline as it moves to the west will help to limit its ability to gain greater wind intensity.

As of 7 am CDT Wednesday, Bertha was packing maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, per the NHC's latest advisory, keeping it a tropical storm. Bertha was able to feed on the exceptionally warm waters in the Gulf, and while some slight strengthening is possible before landfall, the storm is not expected to reach hurricane strength based on the latest data.

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for a large swath of the Gulf Coast, with impacts expected from Florida to Texas. Widespread storm surge of 1 to 3 feet is in the forecast for the coastline between southeastern Louisiana through the Big Bend region of Florida. A maximum surge of 5 feet is possible near the point of impact. The NHC is forecasting 4 to 8 inches of rain along the hardest-hit areas of the coast.

Residents in New Orleans are preparing for direct impacts from Bertha. Conditions are forecast to begin to deteriorate in the Big Easy as the day progresses on Wednesday.  Local officials are warning residents to have sandbags ready, particularly in areas that are vulnerable to flooding.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor Bertha's progression in the hours ahead.

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