It appears that Tropical Storm Bertha is going to end up being just one big dress rehearsal for South Louisiana. Lauren Chandler with the National Weather Service says Bertha, which at last check was packing maximum sustained winds of 50 miles an hour, is weakening and won’t have much of an impact when it makes landfall later this afternoon.
“The area’s off land. So out in the open, waters are gusting to tropical storm force. Over land, you might see some 25-to-30-mile-an-hour gusts, up to 40, so those could knock around some loose items,” Chandler noted.
Chandler says what’s unique about this storm is that the biggest threat is actually excessive heat, since it will produce almost no rainfall over land.
“Just kind of the way that the atmosphere is working today with everything so far south, the rest of that really dry air can kind of push in from the north; and that dry air is actually going to help keep Bertha from strengthening anymore,” Chandler explained.
Chandler says storm surge could be a factor in the southern coastal areas.
“We do have some coastal flood advisories and coastal flood warnings for the near coastal areas, maybe about one to three feet; a little bit higher depending on where those areas are out, outside of any sort of levee system,” Chander said.