Tropical Storm Bertha developed Monday evening over the Gulf of Mexico, south of the Florida Panhandle, as forecasters tracked its uneven drift toward heavily populated stretches of the Gulf Coast. The system is expected to bring the risk of heavy rainfall, storm surge and damaging wind gusts to coastal communities.
At the same time, Hurricane Fausto formed in the eastern Pacific Ocean, well away from Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. As of Monday night, the storm was not threatening land.
Bertha’s center was positioned around 8 p.m. in the northern Gulf, roughly 110 miles south of Panama City, Florida. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph, with some further strengthening possible as it moves closer to the coast.
After meandering for much of Monday, the slow-moving tropical storm is forecast to linger near or along the northern Gulf Coast early this week. Heavy rain is expected across coastal areas of northern Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as Bertha gradually tracks westward toward Texas.
Bertha is the second named tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur, which formed last month, produced heavy rainfall across parts of the southeastern United States.
The hurricane center said Bertha was moving generally west-northwest at about 3 mph and was expected to turn more toward the northwest late Monday night and early Tuesday as it edged closer to the coast.
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A tropical storm watch has been issued for a broad section of the Gulf Coast, extending from the Ochlockonee River in Florida west to southeastern Louisiana at the Jefferson and Plaquemines parish line. A storm surge watch is also in place from the mouth of the Mississippi River eastward to the Alabama-Florida border.
The National Hurricane Center warned that portions of the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts could see potentially life-threatening storm surge of up to 4 feet. Forecasters also said Bertha may produce one or two isolated tornadoes over Florida’s Big Bend region during the week.
Areas of flash flooding will also be possible through Friday along the coast from western Florida to middle Texas, forecasters said. They added that rainfall could total 3 to 5 inches along the Louisiana coastline with higher amounts in some scattered areas.
Red flags were flying on the beach at Orange Beach, Alabama, cautioning 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 gained hurricane status Monday night and was about 745 miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, forecasters said.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Fausto had top sustained winds of 75 mph and was moving to the west-northwest at 9 mph.
No coastal watches or warnings were in effect though ocean swells generated by the storm could pummel the Baja California coast and cause life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions, the center said.
