Tropical Storm Cristobal Moving Ashore In Louisiana Gales Heavy Rain Continues Tonight
Tropical Storm Cristobal is moving ashore now in Southeast Louisiana. The low center appears to be on land based on 6pm observations from land stations, buoys and offshore oil and gas rig observations. Rains have been heavy inland. Winds are gusting over 50 mph in the coastal waters. The satellite picture shows that the storm center has tightened up a bit and there is dry air noted coming into the circulation from the north.
6PM EDT LOCATION…29.3N 89.8W
ABOUT 50 MI…80 KM SSE OF NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…50 MPH…85 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT…N OR 355 DEGREES AT 7 MPH…11 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…992 MB…29.29 INCHES
SATELLITE
REGIONAL RADAR
The circulation shows up well on the regional and local radars. Rain is coming in bands from offshore and extend well to the east of the center and we are beginning to see the rain shield move a bit further westward in Louisiana. The overall motion is to the north at very slow 7 mph.
LOCAL RADAR BATON ROUGE LA
LOCAL RADAR MOBILE AL
Cristobal will continue a slow north and eventually north northwest course tonight and Monday as rains spread further north into Louisiana and eventually up the Mississippi Valley. The storm will transition over into a strong extra tropical storm as it heads for the Western Great Lakes later Tuesday. This will bring heavy rains all the way up to the Western Great Lakes and eventually in South Central Canada.
All of this is due to the fact that the upper flow is southerly across the nations mid section thanks to a deep trough in the Northern Plains which eventually absorbs this feature. We on the other hand are in dry air thanks to an upper high in the east. That should keep all of the rains from Cristobal away from us.
Our weather outlook remains the same over the next few days. Tonight will be nice and clear and it will be cool as lows head down into the 50s except near 60 in the warmer urban locations. Monday will be another beautiful day of sunshine and low humidity with highs mostly in the 70s.
High pressure moves offshore and winds start to go more southwesterly on Tuesday bringing highs back into the 80s with sunshine. Wednesday will be warm and more humid. A cold front will approach but it should not get here until Wednesday night. We will have some sunshine Wednesday with highs in the 80s and then a chance for showers and thunderstorms Wednesday night with the cold frontal passage. Dry air follows and so does another cold front for late Friday with the chance for a shower or thunderstorm late in the day or at night. Next weekend has some questions regarding whether the front stalls nearby or not. That will be our forecast challenge for this week.
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MANY THANKS TO TROPICAL TIDBITS FOR THE USE OF MAPS
Please note that with regards to any severe weather, tropical storms, or hurricanes, should a storm be threatening, please consult your local National Weather Service office or your local government officials about what action you should be taking to protect life and property.
