Forecasters: Tropical storm will be hurricane by Friday

Disturbed weather expected to strengthen, but will have little effect on Florida

The area of disturbed weather in the Gulf of Mexico is not yet Tropical Storm Barry, but the system is expected to strengthen into Hurricane Barry by Friday, the National Hurricane Center said this evening.

The slow-moving storm is expected to dump as much as 18 inches of rain along the central Gulf Coast and lower Mississippi Valley, along with a “dangerous” storm surge of up to six feet in the coming days, forecasters say. It has already wreaked havoc on New Orleans with reports of flooding and fears it could get worse as the storm strengthens.

Storm surge, tropical storm and hurricane watches were put into effect Wednesday evening for parts of the Louisiana coast as meteorologists expect the developing tropical system to grow stronger.

“Maximum sustained winds remain near 30 mph with higher gusts,” the hurricane center said in its 8 p.m. update. “Strengthening is forecast during the next 72 hours, and the disturbance is forecast to become a tropical depression early Thursday, a tropical storm by Thursday night, and a hurricane on Friday.”

Winds only need to increase to 39 mph for the system to become Tropical Storm Barry.

At 8 p.m., the system was located about 115 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving west-southwest at 8 mph, forecasters said. There was a hurricane watch from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Cameron, La. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the mouth of the Mississippi River northward to the mouth of the Pearl River, while there is a storm surge watch from the Pearl River to Intracoastal City.

While it appears the hurricane-to-be will impact Louisiana or Texas, based on forecast models, the hurricane center is cautioning residents along the Gulf Coast to keep an eye on the strengthening storm.

“Interests elsewhere along the U.S. Gulf Coast from the Upper Texas Coast to the Florida Panhandle should monitor the progress of this system,” hurricane center forecasters said.

“I don’t expect this to have any effect on Florida,” said WOFL Fox 35 meteorologist Jayme King. “As this thing moves west, it’s going to keep growing stronger, but we’ll see no increase in wind… The weekend forecast [in Central Florida] looks pretty typical, it starts with sunshine, and ends with a few storms.”