Marco downgraded to a Depression; Laura targets the Gulf Coast

As of 11 p.m. Monday, Marco has been downgraded to a tropical depression after making landfall around 7 p.m. near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Marco is now forecast to dissipate late Tuesday evening.

All eyes are now on Tropical Storm Laura as it moves over the western tip of Cuba Monday night — the last “speed bump” in its path before it emerges over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Currently, Laura is a strong tropical storm, with pressure down at 996 mb and maximum sustained winds at 65 mph.

Laura will emerge over the Gulf of Mexico late Monday night, where conditions will be quite favorable for development. In fact, the National Hurricane Center notes that the warm water and low wind shear over the Gulf could lead to a period of rapid intensification as we head into the next couple of days.

Laura is forecast to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane by Tuesday morning, and then eventually into a Category 2 hurricane by Wednesday morning. The National Hurricane Center has it strengthening into a strong Category 2 hurricane before making landfall sometime Wednesday night close to the Louisiana-Texas border. However, it is not out of the question for this to strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane, which, if that happened, would mark our first major hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

So what does this mean for Southwest Florida? Well, as Laura moves into the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday, expect another breezy day with rough conditions for bays and inland waters. Seas will be between 5′- 7′. Otherwise, we will return to our regularly scheduled summertime weather pattern by Wednesday.