Tropical Storm Barry Likely to Form in Gulf of Mexico, May Become a Hurricane; Flooding, Surge, Wind Threats Ahead

A disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico will eventually strengthen into Tropical Storm Barry in the next day or two, then head toward the Gulf Coast this weekend bringing a threat of significant rainfall flooding, storm surge flooding and high winds to parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and east Texas. The National Weather Service issued a rare flash flood emergency for much of the New Orleans metro area Wednesday morning. Parts of the city picked up over 10 inches of rain in just a few hours, triggering widespread street flooding.

This future tropical storm will be steered westward or west-northwestward through the northern Gulf of Mexico in the direction of Louisiana and East Texas. That movement would be induced by the clockwise flow around a high-pressure system centered in the southern Rockies and Plains. Barry would then be drawn inland this weekend somewhere from East Texas into the lower Mississippi Valley through a gap between the Rockies and Plains high-pressure system and an extension of the Bermuda high over the Bahamas and the Florida Peninsula. Typically, these types of tropical cyclones produce their heaviest rain along and to the east of their tracks. This suggests heavy rain is possible from parts of East Texas into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of the Florida Panhandle. At least locally heavy rain is likely to persist over parts of the Deep South well after the center moves ashore and may persist into early next week.

We recognize the severe impact that current conditions are having on our customers and we are committed to restoring service levels as quickly as possible. As a result of these weather issues, the ALG Client Service Team will send daily updates as we monitor the storm’s progress and track job level impact.