TROPICAL STORM BERTHA

NWS ^ | 4 August 2002 | NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

My kids don't believe me when I tell them it actually made the Top 40 playlist on WLS-AM radio.

[Texas Mom]

Hopefully it will bring some drought relief without the devastation.

I was thinking the same thing... Maybe it will help out the whole SE portion of the USA that needs rain so bad.

As much as I hate hurricanes sometime that is the only thing that will break a drought.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Great job on your first post!

[Lokibob]

All the models take it across LA hugging very close to the shore. With the plentiful moisture feeding the storm, It is possible that (I'm not forcasting this, only the NWS forecasts) Bertha could be around for a while.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks for the post. Hope Bertha just brings some welcome rain and that's all!

Now - what about that glob of clouds off the NC coast!!! Nothing on the weather wires about that???? It looks like a storm forming also there? And, we need rain badly in NC - but we do NOT NEED another power punching Hurricane.....!

[alnick]

Goodness.......I was in New Orleans when Camille hit.....

I was too. But nothing was worse for New Orleans (in my lifetime anyway) than Betsy. We had eight FEET of water.

We lived in a shotgun house and had pulled the mattresses into the hallway (in case of broken windows). During the eye of the storm we went to sleep. Later we were awoken by neighbors banging on the door telling us to get out, the water was rising.

We lived in a house that was raised about three feet, and the water was already up to the porch. We lived next door to a family who owned the corner bar, and they happened to have a two-story house, so my dad carried each of us, piggy back style, over to the next door neighbor's house, where a hurricane party was in full swing.

The following morning boats came and took us to a place that wasn't flooded and we stayed in a shelter until we could get to a relative's house in Kenner.

I was five years old and I thought that it was all such fun.

[DallasMike]

I had a great aunt named Bertha. Wonderful lady of solid German stock. And yes, she was about two axe handles and a plug of chewin' tobacco wide.

[alnick]

Yes, it's making landfall now, and I suspect that we'll have nothing more than lots of rain, thank goodness.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Good news is that much of Central Texas has started to catch up with their rainfall(but not everywhere). Here in Dallas, the rain pattern this year was enough to keep it incredibly mild. Even with the last couple of weeks being low humidity, it has yet to hit 100 this year, and isn't forecast to for the next week. Given ya'll's higher humidity, its probably felt hotter up there in PA than here this summer!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Lets hope it keeps moving. Straddling the coast & feeding off the gulf, if it parks it could be just like Alison last year. Even the bayou can't handle 46 inches.

[mhking]

WTNT32 KNHC 050216
TCPAT2
BULLETIN
TROPICAL STORM BERTHA ADVISORY NUMBER 3
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
10 PM CDT SUN AUG 04 2002

...BERTHA MOVING CLOSER TO SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA...

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA COASTS FROM PASCAGOULA MISSISSIPPI WEST AND SOUTH TO THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...INCLUDING LAKE BORGNE AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN

AT 10 PM CDT...0300Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM BERTHA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 29.6 NORTH...LONGITUDE 89.4 WEST OR ABOUT 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA.

BERTHA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 8 MPH AND THIS MOTION SHOULD CONTINUE TONIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY MORNING...WITH A GRADUAL TURN TO THE WEST-NORTHWEST BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. ON THIS TRACK...THE BROAD CENTER OF BERTHA IS EXPECTED TO PASS CLOSE TO THE NEW ORLEANS METROPOLITAN AREA EARLY MONDAY MORNING.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 40 MPH... 65 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME SLIGHT STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE CENTER OF BERTHA MAKES LANDFALL.

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 60 MILES...MAINLY NORTH OF THE CENTER.

THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE ESTIMATED BY RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS IS 1008 MB...29.77 INCHES.

THE PRIMARY THREAT WITH BERTHA IS EXPECTED TO BE HEAVY RAINFALL AND POSSIBLE INLAND FRESH WATER FLOODING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA WITH LESSER AMOUNTS FARTHER EAST OVER SOUTHERN ALABAMA AND THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE.

STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 1 TO 3 FEET IS POSSIBLE IN THE WARNING AREA. A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FROM ALABAMA EASTWARD TO THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE. CONSULT YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

SMALL CRAFT SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT.

REPEATING THE 10 PM CDT POSITION...29.6 N... 89.4 W. MOVEMENT TOWARD...NORTHWEST NEAR 8 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS... 40 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...1008 MB.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT 1 AM CDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 4 AM CDT...MONDAY.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Oh it has most definitely been hotter here this summer than in most of Texas....and the humidity has been awful!

On the bright side, we've been able to swim almost every day here - unlike last summer when we had some days in July with temps in the 60's..........

Glad to hear some of the rainfall is catching up - too bad it had to be included with widespread flooding........

[Old Professer]

All the models take it across LA hugging very close to the shore. With the plentiful moisture feeding the storm, It is possible that (I'm not forcasting this, only the NWS forecasts) Bertha could be around for a while.

Agreed; but that doesn't make it a potential hurricane!

[lonestar]

On the 10 o'clock (Beaumont) weather news, they said it should be around Lufkin by Tues. if it goes as expected.

The rain is needed.

[lonestar]

The tropical depressions cause more trouble when they come in and stall. Most of Houston flooded last year. Hospitals had to close because basements flooded and knocked out equipment.

[rwfromkansas]

It can't possibly grow much stronger....it is too close to land. But, it may give some nice rains. That 40 mph winds is a joke from KS standards......we get that all the time in clear weather and it is not a big deal.

[rwfromkansas]

That is a tropical depression if I recall correctly....not a threat to NC as far as I know.......

[Lokibob]

Check my posts, I NEVER used the word "HURRICANE". Not once!!! Nor have I predicted an increase of intensity. I don't do those things. The NWS does all the predicting of Tropical weather.

This is precisely why I have not posted to this forum in all the time I have been here.

[RnMomof7]

Your area?

[drstevej]

This is a good bit east of us. Baton Rouge is an hour NW of New Orleans and inland a good bit. We will get rain. But we have already had a good bit of rain.

Currently we are contending with a serial murderer in the area an a plethora of West Nile virus cases in our city/county.