Tropical storm expected to form Friday in the Gulf

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - Tropical Storm Warnings have been issued for the Gulf Coast from Intracoastal City, Louisiana to the Florida-Alabama state line. This includes Lake Pontchartrain, Metro New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the Alabama Coast.

Tropical Depression Likely To Form Tonight

Advisories on Potential Tropical Cyclone Three were initiated by the National Hurricane Center on Thursday afternoon. It is not yet a tropical depression or a tropical storm, but it is expected to become a tropical depression by Friday morning and then a tropical storm by Friday afternoon. It is currently expected to make landfall Friday night or early Saturday morning within a couple of hours on either side of midnight.

Local Affects

Outer rain bands from this system can track over our area as early as Friday afternoon. Downpours can be heavy, but they will likely be brief. Rain will increase and fall on-and-off through Saturday. Rain can fall heavily at times. The heaviest of the rain will likely fall southeast of our area along the Gulf Coast. Rainfall amounts there can be as high as 4 to 7 inches. For us, rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are most likely. North and west of I-20-59, rainfall amounts of less than an inch are likely. The circulation will likely no longer be a tropical storm when it tracks through our area on Saturday. The biggest tornado threat will be south of Highway 84.

Flood Concerns

For us, the rain is the biggest issue. The Pearl River is near flood stage, and the Tombigbee River is already over. The newest data is better news for the Pearl River, but more rain runoff into the Tombiggee River means the flooding will likely get worse this weekend and early next week. Be especially cautious and keep your distance as much as you can from the rivers when they’re running high and especially when they’re overflowing. The high water flows fast, and the saturated banks are weak and break easily.

Our Next 24 Hours

Tonight will be mostly clear. We’ll cool to the low-to-mid 70s through midnight. Clouds will begin increasing after midnight. The low temperature will be near 65 degrees. Friday will be mostly cloudy with some brief downpours in the afternoon and evening. The high temperature will be near 91 degrees.