Tropical Storm Fay continues to stay on a westerly course this evening with more intense rainfall across Florida spreading painfully westward. Per the National Hurricane Center Fay will likely stay a minimal tropical storm through Saturday with a gradual weakening process thereafter. Tomorrow will bring another hot and humid day with slight rain chances but we should see a north wind develop by Saturday afternoon. Impacts upon Acadiana from Fay should be limited to breezy conditions Sunday into Monday with tropical rain showers and occasional gusty winds in some of the rain bands that will approach Sunday and Monday.
Of course the forecast could be much wetter if Fay takes a more southerly course compared to the current forecast track so stay tuned for the latest this weekend. It’s also entirely possible that some of us may not see more than a few drops and just a nice breeze depending on Fay’s ultimate path. Fay should become a depression by Sunday but the remnants should hold together at least through Monday with steering currents collapsing again early next week. Interestingly enough some of the models continue Fay westward across northern portions of Acadiana early next week while others grind the remnants to a halt in Mississippi. The GFS model keeps the bulk of Fay to the east of Acadiana with a turn back to the east as the leftover Texas trough may usher it back to the east. This could be quite unfortunate for portions of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle as the heavy rain threat may continue through mid-next week. Currently tropical storm watches have extended to the Mississippi/Alabama border but may be extended through Mississippi into eastern Louisiana later this weekend. Given Fay’s forecast track there may be a tropical storm watch posted as far west as Grand Isle or Morgan City. Stay informed throughout the weekend as slow moving tropical systems can do some weird things and almost always there is a surprising aspect to each tropical system. Based on the aforementioned factors expect breezy north winds near 15-25mph Sunday into Monday with tropical rain showers…a few organized squalls with higher gusts will be possible mainly Monday perhaps Tuesday with activity going back to “normal” summer mode by midweek.