By AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Aug. 23, 2020 10:54 AM
Tropical Storm Marco continues to slowly churn northward in the central Gulf of Mexico, taking aim at the central Gulf Coast of the United States.
As of early Sunday morning, Marco was nearing hurricane strength with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and moving to the north-northwest at 13 mph.
Forecasters warn that time is running out for residents along the central Gulf Coast to make preparations, as impacts will start to be felt early Monday morning. Marco is expected to continue intensifying, becoming a hurricane during the day Sunday.
"Some wind shear that has prevented Marco from intensifying as quickly will weaken Sunday, allowing for more steady intensification," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller.
On Saturday, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced the state could begin experiencing the effects of Tropical Storm Marco as early as Sunday, with Tropical Storm Laura following closely behind. The governor declared a state of emergency on Saturday ahead of Laura and Marco's unwelcome arrival.
"We are in unprecedented times," Reeves said. "We are dealing with not only two potential storms in the next few hours, we are also dealing with COVID-19."
The governor and other state officials urged residents to prepare ahead of the storms and advised people to find places to evacuate other than public shelters.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
The southern portions of Mississippi will be the part of the state that bears the brunt of Marco Monday into Monday night, especially cities on the immediate coast such as Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula, where heavy rain, damaging winds and around a 3-foot storm surge will all be threats.
Farther inland, heavy rain will be the primary risk, although some locally damaging wind gusts will also remain possible. As with most tropical systems, there will also be a threat for isolated tornadoes north and east of the center of the storm.
Louisiana is expected to bear the brunt of Marco as a whole, with landfall currently anticipated somewhere along the southeastern coast of Louisiana. Some of the same areas of Louisiana could also have impacts from Laura just a couple of days later.
Louisiana Gov. John Edwards tweeted late Thursday that officials are monitoring Marco and Laura and urged residents to gather a plan and consider adding items to guard against the coronavirus pandemic to storm kits. "I want to urge everyone to prepare for whatever may come and to get a game plan," Edwards said.
A hurricane warning has been issued for the coast of Louisiana from Morgan City to the mouth of the Pearl River.
Wind gusts of 60-80 mph are expected from along the Mississippi coast into southeastern Louisiana, including New Orleans. This can lead to some damage to trees, power lines and a few weaker structures. Loose objects can also be thrown about by the wind.
Gusts of 80-90 mph are likely at the coast near where Marco makes landfall, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 100 mph. Winds of this magnitude will lead to more widespread tree and power line damage. Weaker structures can also have more significant damage and even mobile homes can become unsafe.
A complicating factor is Laura, which could come into the central Gulf Coast right on Marco's heels. Power outages could end up lasting for several days to even more than a week for some as restoration efforts will be hindered by having to watch the potential for a second hurricane.
Oil and gas rigs are most concentrated in the central and western two-thirds of the Gulf of Mexico, with refineries in the Houston and Galveston area and around New Orleans. "Two potential [Gulf of Mexico] storms could certainly keep the rigs offline for a few days," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dale Mohler.
"If Laura also takes a track toward the Louisiana coast, power crews may not even be able to go to some areas after Marco exits. As soon as they get there they may have to evacuate again to avoid Laura," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards requested a Federal Emergency Declaration on Saturday in preparation of Marco, as well as Laura.
"This is unlike anything we have seen, with two hurricanes expected to impact our state nearly back to back," he said. "This may mean that people will have to shelter in place for more than 72 hours and that there may not be time to do things like restore lost power between the two storms."
As the system strengthens in the Gulf, heavier rainfall will spread northward into the Gulf Coast states, beginning as early as Monday morning.
A swath of 1-2 inches of rain is anticipated from the Florida Panhandle and far southern Alabama across southern Mississippi and most of Louisiana. The heaviest rain will be focused on far southeastern Louisiana and coastal Mississippi, where 4-8 inches is expected, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches. This heavy rainfall will occur regardless of the strength of Marco as it makes landfall.
With these anticipated impacts from rain and wind, Marco will be a one for the U.S. on the AccuWeather RealImpact Scale™ for Hurricanes, a six-point scale from less than one to five that rates tropical systems based on impacts.
RELATED:
Marco became the 10th storm in 2020 to go down in the record books for the basin. Marco beat Hurricane Maria from the 2005 season, and that storm wasn't given the name Maria until Sept. 2. This was the second Atlantic record set late this week, as Laura claimed the title for the earliest 'L' named storm on record when it was developed at 9:00 a.m. EDT Friday. Laura was located just east of the northern Leeward Islands when it was named.
And storm after storm could keep on coming as tropical waves continue to emerge off the coast of Africa, according to Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno. The heart of the 2020 hurricane season, which is just getting underway, is expected to be extremely active. AccuWeather meteorologists upped their forecast for the number of tropical storms in late July, with up to 24 now predicted and up to 11 hurricanes projected for the season.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
No comments:
Post a Comment