NEW ORLEANS - A disorganized low pressure system in the eastern Gulf of Mexico will drench Florida with heavy rain this week, but impacts for south Louisiana will be limited to just a few spotty downpours Wednesday through Friday.
On Monday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center lowered the chance for development to 30% in the next five days, because it is still quite disorganized and is not showing signs of strengthening.
Regardless of development, impacts for south Louisiana look minimal, because the disturbance will stay well to our east. High pressure over the western Gulf will confine the system to the eastern part of the Gulf Coast. Later in the week, the low pressure will be drawn inland to the northeast as a trough of low pressure crosses the eastern United States and picks it up.
Also, the bulk of the tropical moisture will stay on the far side of the system. Parts of the Florida peninsula will get some heavy rain this week, but our area will be situated on the drier side.
In south Louisiana, just expect a few spotty showers or thunderstorms midweek - about a 30% rain chance for us. Rain amounts will be near a half-inch to an inch.
Looking back at history, there was only one time Louisiana was hit by a May tropical system. It was Tropical Storm Arlene on May 30, 1959 with 45 mph winds. It made landfall near Morgan City.
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