Saturday, July 13, 2019

Barry Almost Hurricane, Almost on Coast...

Well it's morning and we're still here!  Very little rain fell over night, but much more will come as Barry makes landfall later this morning.  This still is a lopsided storm as dry air has kept the northern side from developing.  Fortunately he did not stall and strengthen as I feared last night.  The latest track from NHC takes the center over Marsh Island (south of Abbeville) and then inland west of Lafayette.  This is slight farther west of last night's prediction and better for us wind wise.  However, there's still lots of heavy storms on the south and east sides of Barry that will move northward during today. One such band is east of NOLA over the MS/AL coasts with other bands setting up south of the LA. coast.  If any band sets up over your location, 2-3" of rain PER HOUR could fall resulting in street flooding so don't drive far from home today.  Water is blowing over the seawall on the North Shore flooding the Mandeville Lakefront so stay away from there.  The main concern today will be heavy rainfall (4-8") under one of those bands.  This threat will last most of today until the center of Barry gets well inland and head farther to the north.  There could be several bands linger on Sunday, but overall, tomorrow should be much improved.  Look for water levels to level off after this morning's high tides with a further drop on Sunday & Monday as winds lessen.

Barry has been a "weird game" to follow as his center remains ill-defined resulting in many wobbles and timing issues.  I think NHC did very well in remaining consistent in their messages despite the challenges of a very lopsided storm.   Model rainfall predictions have yet to verify, but that may change during the day.  Some locations, especially to our west towards Baton Rouge may still get 10-15" of rain.   Right now, this Saturday will be a breezy, rainy at times day in NOLA.  Time to read a good book or watch a movie. Stay tuned!























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