Hurricane Delta will make landfall in southwest Louisiana this evening and bring life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds, and significant flooding. As Delta moves inland, heavy rainfall and the risk of flooding will overspread the lower Mississippi-Tennessee Valleys and Appalachians over the next few days. Unsettled weather is also expected over the Pacific Northwest this weekend. States with Active Advisories: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi
Delta is a Category 3 storm heading for a Gulf Coast landfall later Friday. As expected, Delta intensified again over warmer Gulf of Mexico water Thursday and it appears to be leveling off in strength. Delta's center is currently about 200 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana, moving north at 10 to 15 mph.
Advisories
Hurricane Warning
- High Island, TX, to Morgan City, LA
- Includes Lake Charles and Lafayette, LA and Port Arthur, TX
Storm Surge Warning
- High Island, TX, to the Pearl River, LA
- Includes Calcasieu Lake, Vermilion Bay and Lake Borgne.
Tropical Storm Warning
- Sargent to west of High Island, TX
- East of Morgan City, LA, to the mouth of the Pearl River,
- Includes New Orleans.
Surge
The highest storm surge is expected in parts of south-central Louisiana
- Immediate Gulf Coast
- Bays, inlets, inland rivers and bayous
- Southeast LA, including along Lake Pontchartrain
- Along the MS, AL, and upper TX coasts
- 7-11ft inundation expected
In some of these areas, flooding may take days to recede
Winds
The strongest winds with Delta will be seen at landfall as the eyewall moves ashore today into Saturday
- Much of Louisiana
- Extreme eastern Texas
- Mississippi and southern Arkansas
Rainfall
Heavy rainfall is still expected, particularly along and to the east of its path.
- 5-10in up to 15 in southwest and central LA
- 3-6in up to 10 in extreme eastern TX, northern LA, southern AR, and western MS
Some locally heavy rainfall will also spread into the Ohio Valley, Southeast and mid-Atlantic this weekend.
Tornadoes
As Delta moves inland, there will be a chance of tornadoes in the outer rainbands
- Southeast LA and southern MS through tonight
- North Gulf Coast through Tennessee Valley on Saturday
Delta's landfall will be a record 10th landfalling hurricane or tropical storm in the U.S. this season, which will break the previous record of nine such landfalls in a season that had stood since 1916. It will also be the fourth Louisiana landfalling storm of 2020, tying 2002 for the record most in any season in the Pelican State, and it will be the first time in 134 years that two hurricanes impacted western Louisiana in the same year.
