Forecast calls for storms throughout week as tropical systems move through Gulf

Storms are expected to linger in the Pittsburgh region throughout the week, leading up to a rain filled weekend as a duo of tropical storms threaten the Gulf Coast.

According to the National Weather Service, thunderstorms are likely Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Temperatures will hover in the upper 80s and low 90s, with lows around 70 degrees, said Michael Brown, an NWS meteorologist.

“Looks like Friday is a little bit tricky because we’ll have the tropical cyclones in the Gulf of Mexico that are going to start coming our way,” Brown said.

Two systems, Tropical Storm Marco and now Hurricane Laura, churned in the Gulf of Mexico over the past few days. Marco made landfall Monday near the mouth of the Mississippi River, and has weakened to a tropical depression, according to the National Weather Service’s Hurricane Center.

But Laura, which strengthened to a hurricane Tuesday, has the potential to hit the Louisiana and Texas border as a Category 3 three storm, bringing with it winds reaching 110 mph and coastal flooding. More than half a million people were ordered to evacuate the Gulf Coast Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

The storm is expected to make landfall early Thursday morning and eventually weaken to a tropical storm over Arkansas. Pathway predictions show it becoming a tropical depression with the potential to bring rain to Western Pennsylvania starting Friday.

4 PM CDT Tuesday, August 25 Key Messages for Hurricane #Laura: Life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and flooding rains are expected across portions of southwestern Louisiana and far southeastern Texas. https://t.co/kbOJlOuTbt pic.twitter.com/8gUrAWqZNW

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 25, 2020

Brown was unable, at this time, to give predictions for how much rain the area could expect this weekend.

A 10 day forecast from the Weather Channel shows an 80% chance of rain Friday and Saturday, with chances tapering to 20% Sunday as storms begin to roll out.

“Friday and Saturday are probably going to be pretty wet, which is good considering we’ve been in a drought,” Brown said.

He added that dry weather should last for a few days at the beginning of next week, hinting at the possibility of more showers moving in later in the week.