The National Hurricane Center reported Monday evening that Tropical Storm Bertha had formed in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle. The system is drifting unpredictably toward populated coastal zones, prompting alerts about heavy rain, storm surge and strong winds.
The Miami-based center placed the storm center at 8 pm roughly 110 miles south of Panama City, Florida. Sustained winds measured about 40 mph, with further intensification likely before landfall, according to the Associated Press.
The slow-moving storm, now the season’s second named system, lingered over the northern Gulf for hours. Officials expect it to stay near or along the northern Gulf Coast early this week, delivering heavy rain to northern Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana before shifting westward toward Texas.
Last month, Tropical Storm Arthur produced significant rainfall across the southeastern United States.
A tropical storm watch covers a broad Gulf Coast area from Florida’s Ochlockonee River westward to the Jefferson-Plaquemines parish line in Louisiana. A separate storm surge watch extends from the Mississippi River mouth to the Alabama-Florida border.
The center cautioned that surges reaching four feet could threaten parts of the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. Bertha may also spawn one or two isolated tornadoes over Florida’s Big Bend region later in the week.
Some areas could receive up to eight inches of rain. Showers are forecast to persist along the Gulf Coast and nearby inland zones from western Florida to Texas through the week, raising flash flood risks in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
A forecast track shows the former Tropical Depression Two moving westward along the northern Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle toward New Orleans and then into eastern Texas.
The weather service stated a slow northwestward motion is expected through tonight, followed by a turn west-northwest or west, keeping the system near or along the northern Gulf Coast for several days.
In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Fausto strengthened Monday and approached hurricane strength while remaining far offshore western Mexico. It carried 70 mph winds and was centered about 745 miles southwest of Baja California’s southern tip, moving northwest at 10 mph with no land threat.
