The Farmer's Forecast: Hello, Bertha?

By Nick Mikulas

Cenla Weather

A tropical system is moving toward Louisiana, and my concern level is pretty low. This system has had a hard time organizing, and it looks like the track will be further north. That means this system will have less time over water, and any sort of Louisiana impact will likely be minor.

As of this writing on Monday evening, this system is very weakly organized, and is fighting a lot of the battles we typically see in an El Niño year. Northeasterly wind shear and dry air are making the north side very dry with only scattered showers and storms. There really isn’t much action near the center at this point. I think there will be a little organization before an eventual Louisiana landfall, but with most of the rain south of the center, it looks like this will make it wet and windy on the offshore rigs, while leaving only extreme southeast Louisiana with a chance for a few inches of rain. 

Most of the wind will stay offshore, but I think it’ll be a bit breezy south of I-10. I don’t foresee widespread power outages or major flooding in Louisiana, and a lot of us north of I-10 will just continue to be hot and dry. I know some of you are trying to sneak in one more beach trip before the kids go back to school. I say go for it, and don’t sweat this system too much. It may get a name, but it shouldn’t produce anything too crazy here in Louisiana. Our main headline right now is that the entire state is under a heat advisory or excessive heat warning, and that heat will continue through the week.