Potentially life-threatening storm surge, with water levels reaching up to 4 feet, could affect parts of Louisiana, Alabama and Florida.
WASHINGTON — Tropical Storm Bertha gained strength over the Gulf of Mexico as it crept toward the Florida Panhandle, prompting forecasters to issue a tropical storm warning and storm surge watches near the Florida-Alabama state line.
As of the 1 a.m. advisory from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, Bertha was located about 125 miles (205 kilometers) south of Panama City, Florida, and roughly 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Mobile, Alabama. The storm was moving northwest at just 2 mph (4 kph), with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph).
Bertha’s winds had increased by 10 mph (16 kph) since the system formed Monday night. Early Tuesday, a tropical storm warning was in effect from the Florida-Alabama border to the Jefferson and Plaquemines parish line in Louisiana, meaning tropical storm conditions were expected in the warning area within 36 hours.
The hurricane center also issued a storm surge watch from the Alabama-Florida border to the mouth of the Mississippi River, signaling the possibility of dangerous, rising water moving inland from the coast within 48 hours.
Bertha is the second named tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, following Tropical Storm Arthur, which brought heavy rain to parts of the southeastern United States in June.
Forecasters expected Bertha to linger near or along the northern Gulf Coast early in the week, bringing heavy rainfall to coastal communities in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as the system gradually tracked west toward Texas.
The National Hurricane Center warned that storm surge of up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) could pose a serious threat in parts of Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. Bertha also could produce an isolated tornado or two over Florida’s Big Bend region during the week.
Areas of flash flooding also will be possible through Friday along the coast from western Florida to middle Texas, forecasters said, adding that rainfall could total 3 to 5 inches (7 to 12 centimeters) along the Louisiana coastline, with higher amounts in some scattered areas.
Red flags on the beach at Orange Beach, Alabama, cautioned swimmers about high surf and currents. In Escambia County, Florida, emergency officials offered sand for people living in flood-prone areas to use for sandbags.
Fausto forms in the Pacific
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto formed far from Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and posed no threat to land Monday night, the hurricane center said.
Fausto gained hurricane status Monday night and was about 745 miles (1,200 km) southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula with top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was moving to the west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).
No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, though ocean swells generated by the storm could cause life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions on the Baja California coast, the center said.
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