Tropical Storm Bertha expected to make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday

Tropical Storm Bertha, the second storm of the season in the Atlantic Ocean, was slowly approaching Louisiana early Wednesday.

As of 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, the storm was about 110 miles southeast of New Orleans, had winds of 50 mph and was moving westward at around 5 mph.

Bertha is forecast to make landfall in southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, where 1 to 3 or 2 to 4 feet storm surge, dangerous rip currents, tropical-storm-force winds and slow-moving downpours are all possible.

Tropical storm warnings spanned the coastline from the western Florida Panhandle to eastern Louisiana, while tropical storm watches covered portions of far southern Mississippi as well as some of Louisiana.

Winds gusted up to 60 mph in the Florida Panhandle on Tuesday, as beaches were closed along the Gulf Coast and sandbags were distributed in some communities.

Early Wednesday, a disorganized Bertha continued to battle harsh winds that were displacing most of its thunderstorm activity well offshore. However, conditions are expected to worsen — especially near the immediate coastline in Louisiana.

“Bertha is expected to produce total rainfall amounts of 1 to 4 inches with isolated higher totals to 6 inches through Thursday along the central to the western Gulf Coast from western Florida to southern Texas. This rainfall may produce isolated flash flooding, especially in urban areas,” wrote the National Hurricane Center.

By Thursday morning, Bertha will probably still be inching along the Louisiana coastline and moving toward Texas, where scattered downpours are expected into Thursday night — potentially including places such as Houston and Galveston.

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 from Wednesday into Thursday.

This cooler, drier air could also help minimize impacts from Bertha on Thursday across Texas, where deadly floods occurred last week.