New Orleans prepares for some rain as Laura intensifies in the Gulf

Hurricane Laura further intensified on Tuesday, feeding on the extremely warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and advancing toward the southwest Louisiana coast near the border with Texas. Highest sustained winds on Tuesday night were 90 m.p.h. with gusts reaching up to 110 m.p.h.

The Greater New Orleans area continues to be out of the area most threatened by the storm’s winds and heaviest rain, although a series of thunderstorms is expected to arrive on Wednesday and, possibly, early on Thursday as well.

Late Tuesday night, the center of the storm was located about 405 miles southeast of Lake Charles moving northwestward at 17 m.p.h.

Laura is expected to further strengthen over the next 24 hours before coming ashore on Wednesday and Thursday on both the Texas and Louisiana coasts.

Forecasters are expecting a storm surge that could stretch as far as 30 miles inland when the monster system, presently a Category 1 storm, comes ashore as either a strong Category 2 or weak Category 3 storm. 

Seas in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico were reported to be as high as 31 feet near the center of the storm with tropical storm winds extending outward past 200 miles from the center.