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Marco struggling, while Laura looks more imposing

Posted at 5:31 AM, Aug 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-24 12:12:24-04

10:00 am UPDATE: New tracks out for both Marco and Laura, the biggest difference is the Marco track, obviously Marco is quickly being torn apart and will probably be broken up by the end of the day.

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It's a mixed bag of news with the 4:00 a.m. updates from the National Hurricane Center.

The good news is that Marco continues to struggle and the impacts Monday night and Tuesday early morning could be fairly limited as wind shear has been working to pull the storm apart.

Now that the weakening process has begun there is no fear that the storm will re-intensify back into a hurricane, so the Hurricane Warnings along the coast have been changed to Tropical Storm Warnings.

Landfall is still anticipated Monday evening in south east Louisiana and the storm will turn hard west and graze the coastline through Monday night into Tuesday.

Just because the impacts will be limited doesn't mean we won't see any though and a few tropical downpours will still be likely, along with gusty winds which will pick up Monday afternoon.

Tides will continue to run above normal and the storm surge from Morgan City to the west will be around 2-4 ft as the storm scrapes the coastline.

Unfortunately that's where the good news ends as Laura continues to look like a storm that will have major impacts across south west and south central Louisiana.

There is not much change to the track from Tropical Storm Laura except pulling the cone slightly west, but not far enough to remove Acadiana from major impacts as this storm comes ashore.

Models are starting to build a consensus but there's still some uncertainty there on exactly where this storm comes ashore, but the overall consensus is that southwest and south central Louisiana are certainly still in play.

The impacts from Marco should be fairly minimal although rain bands are certainly likely, and the winds will be gusty for the next few days, the impacts from Laura could be much more significant.

The coastal flooding will be fairly minor with Marco, but the tides will come up a few feet above normal on Monday, but the storm surge with Laura will begin to arrive on Wednesday afternoon and could push to around 8-14 feet in areas.

This could result in fairly substantial coastal flooding across much of the Louisiana coastline, the worst of the surge will largely be track dependent but be prepared for significant storm surge across the Acadiana coastline.

Laura is expected to have winds around 105 mph sustained along the center which puts it right up to the edge of what is considered a major hurricane (which is 110 mph) this would mean Acadiana will be dealing with hurricane force winds Wednesday night and Thursday.

Flooding will be a major issue and not just along the coastline but rain totals across the area can vary between 8-15" which would lead to inland flash flooding particularly where the rain is coming down the heaviest.

Arrival of the earliest impacts from Laura will be felt on Wednesday afternoon as tropical storm force winds begin to pick up across Acadiana ahead of landfall, from there conditions will deteriorate through the night.

Storm prep needs to be wrapped up by Wednesday morning as tropical storm force winds are expected to arrive through mid morning on Wednesday and increasing through the day.

The exact impacts will emerge the closer we get to landfall but they are shaping up to be significant and need to be taken very seriously.

Please heed all local evacuation orders and stay on top of the forecast, KATC will bring you on air updates following every bulletin from the National Hurricane Center and any other updates you need.

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