Tropical Storm Marco is falling apart as it nears the Louisiana coast, but its mirror image, Laura, is just behind it and forecasters now fear it could become a major hurricane
NEW ORLEANS — As two powerful storms menaced the Gulf Coast Monday, forecasters feared Marco would drive seawater onto the shore and unleash torrential rains just two days before Laura lashes the same region with potentially more powerful storm surge and hurricane-force winds. Forecasters raised the ominous possibility that warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico could super-charge Laura into a powerful hurricane. Laura’s center was remaining just off Cuba’s shore and was not expected to weaken over land before entering the gulf. »Laura will be moving over the very warm and deep waters of Gulf Stream and Loop Current located over the southeastern Gulf, which could trigger a brief period of rapid intensification, » the National Hurricane Center wrote in a Monday morning update. That’s a recipe for damaging, hurricane-force winds of more than 110 mph as Laura approaches the U. S. coast, forecasters said. »There is definitely a possibility that it could be a little bit stronger and be a Category 3, » said meteorologist Benjamin Schott, who runs the National Weather Service office in Slidell, Louisiana. Marco was centered about 85 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and heading northwest at 10 mph Monday morning.
