Tropical update: Barry has been downgraded to a Tropical Depression, but it’s still producing very heavy rain, which is spreading into Arkansas, Tennessee, and the mid-south. The corridor of tropical rain will continue to cause local flash floods in Louisiana, Mississippi, and surrounding states. In addition, serious river flooding is still possible in parts of Louisiana. All of the water falling from the sky has to eventually flow south. Elsewhere, nothing is expected to develop in the tropics this week.
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The center of what’s left of Barry is heading into Arkansas and will eventually move toward the Midwest as the circulation spins down. The large mass of tropical moisture will continue to stream north across Louisiana and Mississippi, and surrounding states today, spreading into the Mid-South, Midwest. By midweek, it will increase rain chances in the Northeast.
The location of the center of the system is not important at this point. The corridors of heavy tropical rain over Louisiana, Mississippi, and surrounding states contains embedded downpours, which are producing local flash flooding. Also, some of the cells may contain tornadoes. In addition, the onshore flow of gusty wind off the Gulf is still producing storm-surge flooding in some coastal sections of Louisiana.
The issue over the next few days is that the water falling from the skies has to drain south, eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. Rivers closer to the Gulf, especially in the Baton Rouge area, will rise well after the storm is gone.
Elsewhere… the tropical Atlantic is covered with Saharan dust, which we can see in South Florida in the hazy skies. Strong tropical waves are coming off of Africa, but the dust and unfavorable upper winds over some parts of the tropics are killing them off.
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