First sets of watches issued for South Mississippi as tropical system brews in Gulf

A tropical storm watch and a storm surge watch have been issued for the Mississippi Coast, as Tropical Depression Two works to become Tropical Storm Bertha.

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The tropical storm watch covers the coasts of Mississippi and Louisiana from the Mississippi/Alabama border to the Jefferson/Plaquemines parish border.

The storm surge watch covers the U.S. Gulf Coast from the Alabama/Florida Border to the Mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana.

A Storm Surge Watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, in the indicated locations during the next 48 hours. For a depiction of areas at risk, please see the National Weather Service Storm Surge Watch/Warning Graphic, available at hurricanes.gov.

A Tropical Storm Watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, in this case in the next 24 to 48 hours. Additional watches or warnings may be required later today or Tuesday.

The second tropical storm of the season — Bertha — could form as soon as Monday morning, said the National Hurricane Center.

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A tropical storm watch remains in effect from parts of the Florida Panhandle to the Mississippi/Alabama border. More watches and warning will likely be issued.

“The biggest impact… is a solid transport of moisture/ heavy rain into the Florida Panhandle, with some localized flooding,” posted Jeff Berardelli, Chief Meteorologist and Climate Specialist at WFLA Tampa Bay, on X.

The tropical depression is barely holding it together on satellite, forecasters said, but they still expect it to track west and strengthen a little. The giant size of the system and the dry air around it are holding it back from really growing in the warm Gulf waters.

The latest cone shows the storm making landfall around Wednesday afternoon in eastern Louisiana, tracking through the state, emerging again into the Gulf on Friday morning and potentially making a second landfall as a far weaker tropical depression on Saturday morning on the east Texas coast.

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