Nicholas' Remnants Drench Southeastern US; More Storms Likely 

The remainder of what was Hurricane Nicholas continues to dump rain along the central U.S. Gulf Coast, while the U.S. National Hurricane Center is watching two areas that are likely to become named storms in the next few days. 


In Thursday reports, hurricane center forecasters said Nicholas, now a post-tropical depression, was moving through Louisiana to the north and east, where it was expected to drop heavy rain.


Flash flood watches


The system was expected to produce additional rainfall of 5 to 10 centimeters (2 to 4 inches) across the Gulf Coast Friday, with isolated amounts of 16 centimeters (6 inches) possible.


Flash flood watches were in effect from portions of southeast Louisiana, across southern Mississippi and Alabama, to the Florida panhandle, especially in urban areas. Widespread minor river flooding was expected, and scattered moderate flooding was possible. 


Meanwhile, forecasters were watching two areas of low pressure in the Atlantic that show a good chance of developing into storms over the next two to three days. One of them, roughly 300 kilometers (185 miles) south-southeast of the Southeastern state of North Carolina, was beginning to show some signs of organization.


High surf and gale warnings


The forecasters said the system was forecast to move north- and northeastward from the southeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S. coasts and could bring high surf and gale warnings to portions of the southeastern and mid-Atlantic coasts later this week.


The other system was much farther to the south and east, about 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) west-southwest of Cape Verde. Forecasters said a tropical depression would probably form over the weekend. The system was expected to move to the west and northwest across the tropical Atlantic.