At a Glance

Delta is now moving inland through Louisiana and Mississippi.Damaging winds, flooding rain and isolated tornadoes are all expected. This includes areas ravaged by Hurricane Laura in late August.

Delta is expected to bring damaging winds and rainfall flooding to parts of Louisiana and Mississippi as it moves inland through the weekend. This includes some of the same areas that were ravaged by Hurricane Laura.

Delta made landfall near Creole, Louisiana, a town 14 miles east of Cameron, where Laura made landfall just over 40 days ago, as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph Friday evening.

Delta's landfall was the , which breaks the previous record of nine such landfalls in a season that had stood since 1916.

Happening Now

Delta continues to weaken, now moving through the lower Mississippi Valley spreading rainfall from Louisiana to parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.

Flash flood emergencies were issued Friday evening where Delta's eyewall created torrential rainfall. A rain gauge near Iowa, Louisiana is reporting more than 17 inches of rainfall so far. Lake Charles, Louisiana has received more than 12 inches of rain so far.

Current Radar, Watches and Warnings

Water levels spilled over the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico earlier this evening as Delta made landfall. The water level at the Freshwater Canal Locks rose to at least 8.3 feet before the gauge stopped reporting, breaking the record for the location dating back to Hurricane Ike in 2008. For more storm surge readings, see the end of this article.

Delta produced a 101 mph gust near the Texas/Louisiana border at Texas Point, Friday evening. Wind gusts over 75 mph were reported across much of southwestern Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas. For more observed wind gusts, see the end of the article.

Maximum sustained winds are now on the decrease as Delta moves inland, but damaging wind gusts are still likely overnight. Tropical storm conditions will be possible throughout much of Louisiana and western Mississippi into early Saturday.

Current Winds

Forecast Timing, Intensity

Delta will move inland over the lower Mississippi Valley this weekend and will weaken quickly.

By early next week, whatever is left of Delta will move into the Tennessee Valley and the central Appalachians as a rainmaker.

Latest Information

(The red-shaded area denotes the potential path of the center of the tropical cyclone. It's important to note that impacts (particularly heavy rain, high surf, coastal flooding, winds) with any tropical cyclone usually spread beyond its forecast path.)

Forecast Impacts

Flooding Rainfall, Storm Surge

Flash flooding is now the number one concern surrounding Delta as it moves inland.

A faster forward speed than what we saw with Hurricane Sally last month will lessen Delta's extreme rainfall potential to some degree, though heavy rainfall is still expected, particularly along and to the east of its path.

Rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches, with isolated 10-inch amounts are forecast in parts of northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas and western Mississippi.

Some locally heavy rainfall will also spread into the Ohio Valley, Southeast and mid-Atlantic this weekend.

Rainfall Potential

(This should be interpreted as a broad outlook of where the heaviest rain may fall.)

In some of these areas, , not just from heavy rainfall, but also from storm surge that has temporarily backed up rivers and bayous, effectively making them unable to drain effectively to the Gulf.

Winds

Winds will gradually let up along the Gulf Coast and across Louisiana overnight while increasing in Arkansas, Tennessee and northern Mississippi toward daybreak.

Wind Gust Forecast

As with most hurricanes, strong winds capable of downing trees and power outages will also extend inland as Delta gains some forward speed after landfall, into much of Louisiana, extreme eastern Texas, Mississippi and southern Arkansas into Saturday.

Power Outage Potential

Tornadoes

As with most landfalling hurricanes and tropical storms, there's also a threat of isolated tornadoes from Delta.

Southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi have the greatest chance of seeing a few tornadoes early Saturday, mainly in outer rainbands where rotating thunderstorms typically occur in tropical cyclones moving inland.

Some isolated tornadoes are also possible Saturday with the remnant of Delta in parts of Mississippi, Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle.

Tornado Outlook

(Shaded on the map above is the likelihood of tornadoes, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center. Note that not all categories apply for the severe weather risk on a particular day.)

Historical Notables

Delta's landfall was the , which breaks the previous record of nine such landfalls in a season that had stood since 1916.

Delta was the first hurricane with a greek name to make landfall in the United States.

It will also be the fourth Louisiana landfalling storm of 2020, in the Pelican State, according to Phil Klotzbach, Colorado State University tropical scientist.

And it will be the that two hurricanes impacted western Louisiana in the same year, according to University of Miami tropical scientist Brian McNoldy.

It's also an , as NHC senior hurricane specialist Eric Blake noted.

Storm History

Tropical Depression Twenty-Six formed late Sunday evening to the south of Jamaica and then strengthened into Tropical Storm Delta on Monday morning, the 25th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

(MORE: Countdown to a Record Season)

Delta became the ninth hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season on Monday evening.

Reconnaissance aircraft measured a drop in central pressure of 18 millibars from Monday's 2 p.m. EDT National Hurricane Center pressure estimate to when it was found to have become a hurricane about six hours later.

Winds in Delta increased by 85 mph in the 24 hours ending 11:20 a.m. EDT Tuesday. That was more than double the criteria for the rapid intensification of a tropical cyclone, which is a wind speed increase of at least 35 mph in 24 hours or less.

Delta's rapid intensification was due to an environment of the anywhere in the tropical Atlantic basin, low wind shear and sufficiently moist air, in a , according to Sam Lillo, a NOAA scientist based in Boulder, Colorado.

Delta's tiny size also helped it intensify so rapidly.

(MORE: Delta Was the Fastest on Record to Intensify From Tropical Depression to Category 4)

Delta made landfall Wednesday morning around 5:30 a.m. CDT near Puerto Morelos, Mexico, in the Yucatan Peninsula, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, making it a hurricane.

Delta's Landfall In Mexico

A wind gust to 75 mph was measured at Puerto Morelos, 64 mph in Cozumel and 106 mph on an elevated WeatherFlow observing site near Cancún.

(NEWS: Power Out, Trees Downed as Delta Strikes Yucatan)

Delta's weakening prior to its Yucatan landfall appeared to be due to land interaction, some impinging on the hurricane from the east, inhibiting its outflow aloft, and also perhaps working into the tiny circulation.

The maximum sustained winds in Delta topped out at 145 mph Tuesday, but were down to 85 mph as of Wednesday 4 p.m. CDT soon after emerging over the Gulf of Mexico.

Strengthening resumed as it tracked through the Gulf of Mexico.

For the first time in Delta's lifetime as a hurricane, a distinct eye finally cleared out in Infrared satellite imagery Thursday afternoon, and a U.S. Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter mission to warrant an upgrade to Category 3 status.

Delta weakened to a low-end Category 2 hurricane before reaching the Louisiana coastline east of Cameron.

Delta brought a significant storm surge and wind gusts to the Louisiana and southeast Texas coastline as it roared ashore.

Coastal flooding was reported Friday morning in Nueces County, Texas and has been reported as far east as southeastern Louisiana, Friday afternoon.

Other significant storm surge readings include:

5.52 feet in Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana5.05 feet in Sabine Pass, Texas1.46 feet in Lake Charles, Louisiana0.94 feet in Port Fourchon, Louisiana

Here are a few significant wind gusts from the evening of Oct. 9:

96 mph in Lake Arthur, Louisiana (WeatherFlow station)95 mph in Lake Charles, Louisiana89 mph in Calcasieu Pass and Cameron, Louisiana86 mph in New Iberia, Louisiana78 mph in Port Arthur, Texas and Marsh Island, Louisiana75 mph in Lafayette, Louisiana74 mph in Pecan Island, Louisiana48 mph in New Orleans

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