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Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News
Paul Huttner

Hurricane Laura likely intensifies to a major hurricane with 115 mph winds Wednesday

Winds of 115 mph, and 6 to 13 feet of storm surge forecast for Louisiana coast.

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Hurricane Laura is gaining strength over warm open waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tuesday’s GOES-16 infrared satellite loop shows the storm moving away from western Cuba into open waters in the central Gulf.

Hurricane Laura
GOES-16 infrared loop of Hurricane Laura
NOAA via COD Weather Lab

Category 3

Laura is expected to intensify and reach major hurricane strength over the next 24 hours. Forecast models and the current forecast from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center flare Laura to a category 3 hurricane Wednesday with 115 mph winds.

Hurricane Laura intensity forecasts
Hurricane Laura intensity model forecasts
NOAA via tropical tidbits

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INIT 25/1500Z 23.7N 87.0W 65 KT 75 MPH

12H 26/0000Z 24.6N 89.2W 75 KT 85 MPH

24H 26/1200Z 26.0N 91.5W 90 KT 105 MPH

36H 27/0000Z 28.0N 93.3W 100 KT 115 MPH

48H 27/1200Z 30.5N 93.9W 80 KT 90 MPH...INLAND

Track forecast: Landfall Wednesday night

Laura’s hurricane spaghetti model track forecasts are tightly clustered around a landfall after midnight Wednesday night into early Thursday morning near the Texas-Louisana border.

Hurricane Laura track forecast
Hurricane Laura track forecast
NOAA/National Hurricane Center

Storm surge

Storm surge with Laura looks very significant. Current storm surge forecasts push a wall of water between 6 and 13 feet along the Lousiana coast.

Hurricane Laura storm surge forecast
Hurricane Laura storm surge forecast
NOAA/National Hurricane Center

STORM SURGE: The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide...

Sea Rim State Park TX to Intracoastal City LA including Sabine Lake and Calcasieu Lake...9-13 ft Intracoastal City to Morgan City including Vermilion Bay...7-11 ft

Port Bolivar TX to Sea Rim State Park...6-9 ft

Morgan City LA to Mouth of the Mississippi River...4-6 ft

High tide

One factor that could add to coastal inundation is the high tide of around 2 feet which occurs close to expected landfall time early Thursday morning.

Hurricane Laura is likely to cause significant storm surge damage along the Lousiana coast.