Tropical storm warnings have been issued for parts of the Texas and Louisiana coast as a potential system gathers strength in the Gulf of Mexico.
The still-unnamed storm was 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of Morgan City, Louisiana, with top winds of 35 miles per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said in an advisory on Monday. If the system further organizes and its winds reach 39 mph, it will be named Edouard, becoming the Atlantic’s fifth storm of the six-month hurricane season.
The storm is very small, but it’s over waters of about 86F (30C), warm enough to provide fuel for strengthening, the hurricane center said. Any intensification will likely be short-lived, however, with the system forecast to move inland Tuesday, bringing heavy rain and a risk of flooding to parts of Texas and Louisiana.
“Some strengthening is expected before the system reaches the coast on Tuesday,” the center said in advisory.
So far this year, four short-lived storms have formed in the Atlantic, none of which reached hurricane strength. Typically, the basin would have produced six named storms by now, two of which would have grown into hurricanes, but this year El Niño in the Pacific is increasing wind shear across the Atlantic that has been holding storms back. Storms in the Gulf are often closely watched because the region is vital to US oil and natural gas production, processing and refining.
Photo: The shoreline is seen during a tropical storm warning on June 17, 2026 in Galveston, Texas.
Copyright 2026 Bloomberg.
Topics
Catastrophe
Texas
Natural Disasters
Louisiana
Windstorm
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