By Jim Bradshaw



The tropical depression that has been developing in the Gulf of

Mexico over the last several days is now Tropical Storm Nate. It continued to

churn in the Bay of Campeche this morning and the best guess is that it will go

to Mexico. There is a small chance, however, that it will move into the Gulf of

Mexico.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Maria is moving westward across the

Atlantic, Katia remains far away from land, and the U.S. Northeast is bracing

for more flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.

The current consensus among meteorologists is for Nate to slowly

turn westward toward the east coast of mainland Mexico in upcoming days,

strengthening into a hurricane in the process.

As of Thursday morning, Nate was meandering around the Bay of

Campeche and was expected to eventually move slowly to the north across the

southern Gulf over the weekend before moving back west into the Mexican coast.

Nate will have little or no impact on Acadiana, according to Joe Rua

of the Lake Charles office of the National Weather Service. He said a ridge of

high pressure is expected to block the storm before it can reach Louisiana.

At 8 a.m. Thursday Nate was centered near 20.2 north, 92.4 west,

drifting toward the southeast at about 1 mph. Maximum sustained winds were 45

mph.

Experts at the National Hurricane Center said that Nate appeared to

be slowly getting better organized. Estimates Thursday morning that are almost

certain to change as the storm develops show Nate going ashore over the weekend

or early next week midway between Matamoras, Mexico, and Brownsville, Texas, as

a minimal hurricane.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Mariais on a path that will take it much

farther south in the tropical Atlantic compared to Katia, but it is expected to

curve away from the United States.

Katia is in a steering flow that will take the tropical storm near

the Leeward Islands, British and U.S. Virgin islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola

this weekend.

Odds favor Hurricane Katiastaying well away from the East coast of

the U.S., however it may send heavy waves into parts of the Atlantic Seaboard.

Also this morning the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped heavy

rain and caused havoc around the Northeast, bringing floods that cut off major

highways, forced evacuations in one upstate New York city and caused some

schools to open late or not at all. Flood watches and warnings were in effect

from Maryland to New England.