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Tropical Storm Bertha, the second storm of the season in the Atlantic Ocean, formed in the eastern Gulf of Mexico late Monday.
Bertha had sustained winds just over 50 mph and was about 110 miles south of Panama City, Florida, early Tuesday.
Tropical storm watches were in effect from the Florida Panhandle to eastern Louisiana, with tropical storm warnings covering a portion of that zone from southern Alabama to Louisiana.
There was little rain and wind to be found across that stretch early Tuesday morning, as Bertha battled harsh winds that were displacing most of its thunderstorm activity well offshore — and south of its center of circulation.
That’s a hallmark of a disorganized storm, but Bertha still poses a threat.
The tropical storm is forecast to inch closer to land Tuesday and Wednesday, leading to a risk for slow-moving downpours from around Tallahassee to New Orleans as well as a risk for 1 to 3 or 2 to 4 feet of storm surge that could cause coastal flooding.
Bertha may push ashore in Louisiana on Wednesday. Scattered heavy rain is forecast to continue, but this interaction with the land could cause the storm to weaken into a tropical depression as it continues to lurch westward along the Gulf Coast.
Depending on the storm’s proximity to land, it could weaken into a depression on Wednesday or Thursday, although scattered but heavy rain is forecast to continue along the Gulf Coast.
“Bertha is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches with isolated higher totals around 6 inches through Thursday along the Gulf Coast and adjacent inland locations from western Florida into southern Louisiana, including southern portions of Alabama and Mississippi,” the National Hurricane Center wrote. “This rainfall may produce areas of flash flooding, especially in urban areas.”
In an unusual twist, wildfire smoke that’s drifting across the country, mostly from numerous fires in the Northwest, may contribute to Bertha’s weakening later this week.
This cooler, drier air could also help minimize impacts from Bertha on Thursday across Texas, where deadly floods occurred last week.
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