Hurricane Delta makes landfall over southwest Louisiana as a Category 2 storm
Hurricane Delta reduced to a Category 2 before it made landfall in the U.S. The storm came ashore over Creole, Louisiana, with windspeeds of 155km/h.
"Delta is moving toward the north-northeast near 14 mph (22 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue through Saturday morning. A motion toward the northeast is then expected through Sunday night. On the forecast track, the center of Delta should move across central and northeastern Louisiana tonight and Saturday morning. After that time, the system is forecast to move across northern Mississippi into the Tennessee Valley," says the National Hurricane Centre.
There are currently several watches and warnings in effect:
A Storm Surge Warning — east of Sabine Pass to the Mouth of the Pearl River including Calcasieu Lake, Vermilion Bay, and Lake Borgne.
A Hurricane Warning — High Island Texas to Morgan City Louisiana.
A Tropical Storm Warning — west of High Island to San Luis Pass, Texas, east of Morgan City Louisiana to the mouth of the Pearl River, including New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas
As of Friday 7 p.m. CDT, the maximum sustained winds have been around 150 km/h with higher gusts. The storm should quickly weaken throughout Saturday, dropping to tropical depression status.
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In the worst-hit areas of Louisiana, storm surge could be almost four metres above normal, and still be dangerous in comparatively less severe areas, so damage to coastal infrastructure should be expected.
The storm will also bring major downpours to the area, in the 125-250 mm range, with locally heavy amounts as high as 375 mm.
"These rainfall amounts will lead to significant flash, urban, small stream flooding, along with minor to major river flooding," the NHC says.
Early models suggested some impact on southern Ontario on Thanksgiving Monday, though its effects on the province look to be less than originally feared.
Delta will be the 10th named storm to make landfall in the continental U.S., another record for what has been an above-average hurricane season.
Delta, the fourth storm to be given a name from the Greek name list this season, is especially notable, roaring from named tropical storm to Category 4 in less than two days earlier this week, the fastest since the mid 19th Century. At its peak, it was also the most powerful Greek-named storm on record.
With Delta, the 2020 hurricane season creeps closer to uncharted territory. The current record for the most active season was set in 2005, which went as far as Zeta, named for the sixth letter in the Greek alphabet after the traditional name list was exhausted. That storm actually lingered a few days into January before finally dissipating.
