The Gulf Coast is preparing for a Category 1 Hurricane to hit on Saturday, with the brunt of the storm to hit Louisiana, but portions of Texas will be impacted. . The National Hurricane Center's latest forecast shows the formation of Hurricane Barry out of a tropical depression moving west-southwest around eight-miles-per-hour. Barry is predicted to hit Saturday evening near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The cone of the storm shows Barry also hitting Texas.
A Hurricane Watch has been issued for much of the Louisiana coast and additional tropical storm or hurricane watches could be needed later tonight or tomorrow. The slow movement of this system will result in a long duration heavy rainfall threat along the central Gulf Coast and inland through the lower Mississippi Valley through the weekend and potentially into early next week. Flash flooding and river flooding will become increasingly likely.
Photo: National Hurricane Center