NU Online News Service, Aug. 11, 1:57 p.m. EDT
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Gulf Coast from Destin, Fla., to Intracoastal City, La.–an area that includes Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm system, currently designated at "Tropical Depression Five," is moving northwest through the Gulf of Mexico at about 12 miles per hour and is expected to make landfall in the next 24 hours.
In its advisory, the NHC described the system as sprawling and poorly organized. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 miles per hour.
"Some strengthening is possible, and the depression could become a tropical storm before it reaches the coast," the NHC said.
But the NHC added, "Although the upper-level pattern is forecast to gradually become more conducive for strengthening, the sprawling structure of the depression suggests that any intensification would be slow."
The system is forecast to slow down after landfall, in which case "heavy rainfall would become the primary threat," according to the NHC.
Total rain accumulations of three to five inches are expected, with isolated maximum amounts of eight inches possible from southeastern Louisiana to the western Florida Panhandle through Friday morning, the NHC said.
Tropical storm wind conditions could begin in the warning area tonight or early tomorrow morning, the NHC added.
Additionally, the NHC said storm surge could raise water levels by as much as one to three feet above ground level along the immediate coast near and to the east of where the storm's center makes landfall.
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