Zeta emerged over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, where it will intensify back into hurricane force before it crashes into Louisiana, near Houma, late Wednesday.
Oct.27 (UPI) — Zeta, the 27th named storm of the 2020 hurricane season, emerged over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, where it will intensify back into hurricane force before it crashes into Louisiana, near Houma, late Wednesday. Forecasters have rated Zeta a 1 on the AccuWeather RealImpact Scale at the time of landfall. The state is bracing for its fifth strike from a named storm of the season, which will make the United States tally for land-falling storms climb to 11 — a record for the country. Hurricane warnings were in effect along the Gulf Coast from central Louisiana eastward to the Mississippi/Alabama border. New Orleans, which has been spared the worst from storms striking Louisiana so far this year, was included in the area under hurricane warnings. Tropical storm watches have been issued northward through Atlanta. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were 65 mph as it moved over the southern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday afternoon. The storm had weakened slightly and was moving to the northwest at 14 mph some 450 miles south of the Mississippi River. Zeta made its first landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, packing 80-mph winds, along the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico just north of Tulum shortly after 11 p.m. CDT Monday. The storm lost some wind intensity once over land and weakened into a tropical storm as it spun northward unleashing storm surge, heavy rain and strong winds overnight. There is the chance that Zeta could reach Category 2 hurricane strength with sustained winds between 96 mph to 110 mph, as it moves over the warm waters of the Gulf Tuesday and Tuesday night, but then it could weaken slightly into a Category 1 storm (74 mph to 95 mph) before it nears the Gulf Coast on Wednesday. «We anticipate a slight loss of wind intensity shortly before landfall on Wednesday evening, which may cause Zeta to be a minimal Category 1 hurricane or a strong tropical storm at the time of landfall,» AccuWeather senior meteorologist Adam Douty said. «Regardless of this small difference of strength, overall impacts are expected to remain the same,» Douty said. Dangerous and damaging storm surge, high winds and flooding rainfall will hammer Louisiana to Florida as Zeta makes landfall late Wednesday and begins to move inland. Several tornadoes could also touch down as the Zeta batters the U.S. Gulf Coast, especially near and east of where the storm comes onshore. Zeta is forecast to track northeastward toward the coastline, striking just southeast of Morgan City, La., during Wednesday evening, and forecasters say the center of the storm will come close to New Orleans. The storm’s projected path has the potential to bring the most significant impacts in southeastern Louisiana and the New Orleans area of any tropical system this season as the city managed to avoid the core of all tropical systems thus far this year. The Big Easy is at risk for power outages and flooding from Zeta — and conditions will deteriorate quickly there late Wednesday. A storm surge of 3 feet to 6 feet is forecast along the southeastern Louisiana coast, including along lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain. But, a storm surge of 1 foot 3 feet can occur as far to the east as the northern Gulf coast of Florida and as far to the west as Intercoastal City, La.
