FRED and GRACE part two…
Fred appears to have lost his way and his course is now sliding to the west. Fred’s visit to Caribbean island had a sever impact on his health, resulting in a more westerly circulation forming coming out of the Florida straight. Current National Hurricane Center forecasts have Fred strengthening back to tropical storm status and making landfall along the Alabama coast near Grand Bay. Louisiana now is in the cone of uncertainty as Fred will likely rain and tropical storm force winds to the extreme southeastern coast of Louisiana as early as Monday morning, with landfall sometime Monday evening or early Tuesday morning. Please monitor your local officials for guidance as Fred approaches the area.
Grace has now reached Tropical Storm status and is currently in the vicinity of the Leeward Islands. The current forecast track brings Grace in contact with Hispaniola by Monday morning. The mountainous terrain there should have a negative effect on further development through Tuesday. Grace’s forecast has her travel along the entire length of Cuban and entering the Gulf as a tropical storm by Thursday morning. If Grace remains on current tract, Louisiana is likely to be in the forecasted cone.
As always, whether we are talking about Fred, Grace or any future storm, please listen to your local emergency officials for guidance.