Tropical Depression 5 is slowly trudging through the Gulf of Mexico this morning,it will become better organized into a tropical storm today, taking aim at the Gulf Coast later tonight. Residents from Louisiana to Florida`s Panhandle should prepare now for rapidly changing weather conditions later today.
The tropical depression is expected intensify into a tropical storm later today, being given the name "Danielle." It will continue moving northwest today, slowing down once it approaches the central Gulf Coast late tonight. While the storm will likely make landfall only as a tropical storm on Thursday morning, it will still bring very heavy rain and gusty winds to the central Gulf Coast.
As of 5 a.m. EDT, Tropical Depression 5 was located near 26.8 N, 85.1 W. This is about 200 miles south of Apalachicola, Fla., or about 290 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. This storm is picking up forward speed this morning, moving northwest at 10 mph. It still has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. The minimum central pressure is 1008 mb or 29.77 inches of mercury.
A Tropical Storm Warning continues from Destin, Fla. to Intracoastal City, La. This includes all of Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans. This means that tropical storm conditions are expected within the next 36 hours.
The storm will likely make landfall Thursday morning along the Mississippi and Louisiana coast. Three to five inches of rain with isolated higher totals nearing eight inches will likely cause flash flooding from southeastern Louisiana to Florida`s western Panhandle. Wind gusts nearing 45 mph along the Gulf Coast tonight will be enough to cause sporadic power outages and beach erosion, while the storm surge is expected to rise 2 to 4 feet along and east of the storm`s center
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