Hurricane Delta Intensifying, Path is Toward Louisiana

Hurricane Delta has been rapidly intensifying over the last 24 hours and is now a major hurricane reaching Category 4 strength. The current path of Delta shows it will be a threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast Friday night. Delta is expected to become a Category 4 Hurricane twice in its lifespan before weakening as it nears landfall.

Delta will move northwest through the next 72 hours, reaching the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday. Thereafter, the storm is expected to round the edge of a high-pressure system, causing a move to the north/northeast on Friday. A track further west will bring more significant impacts into Acadiana but we are still not expecting that at this time. As of today, the tropical models are in very good agreement of a landfall across the eastern parts of the state. In this case, Acadiana would see minimal impacts Thursday with more impacts on Friday.

The National Hurricane Center currently has a Category 2 Hurricane approaching the southeastern Louisiana coast by Friday, but plenty of uncertainty exists. The recent cold fronts have helped cool the water off in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast and it should be battling wind shear as it nears the coast. Theoretically, this would weaken the system but by how much is uncertain. We'll have to continue to monitor this system very closely through the week ahead.

Although Delta will be a fast-moving storm, global models are showing the possibility of 4-8" inches of rainfall across Acadiana in a short period of time. This could lead to flash flooding, especially areas that don't drain well. I think this is a little high but we should be preparing for flash flooding, at least in isolated areas of Acadiana. Wind gusts are much more modest as the GFS is barely showing hurricane-force wind gusts as Delta makes landfall.