Post date: Jun 24, 2012 11:31:6 PM
PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 24, 2012) (NBC) - Strong winds and heavy rain from Tropical Storm Debby reached the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday(June 24) as the storm meandered on an uncertain track toward the Louisiana coast with 60 mph (95 kph) winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Storm warnings issued for coastal areas from Louisiana to Florida. Tropical storm Debby is expected to strengthen into a hurricane.
Debby, the first named storm of 2012 to enter the Gulf of Mexico, was centered about 200 miles (325 km) east-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and was moving slowly northeast at around 5 mph (7 kph) at 1 p.m. CDT (1800 GMT). The storm was expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Tuesday (June 26) night, the Miami-based center said.
The NHC predicted that Debby will turn west and come ashore on the eastern Louisiana coast early Thursday (June 28) as a weak Category 1 hurricane.
Other forecast models were skewed on Debby's ultimate destination, with some showing landfall in Florida and others predicting the Texas coast. Debby should remain nearly stationary for the next 12-24 hours and "the track beyond that time is highly uncertain" due to divergent models, the NHC said.
Debby has already disrupted nearly a quarter of Gulf offshore oil and natural gas production as big offshore operators like BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell evacuated workers from offshore platforms in the path of the storm.
That number could climb in coming days, with Debby expected to enter some of the most prolific production areas of the Gulf, home to 20 percent of U.S. oil production and 6 percent of natural gas output.
The NHC extended the storm warning east to the Mississippi-Alabama border and along Florida's northwest coast to the Suwannee River.
Debby could bring 5 to 10 inches (12 to 25 cm) of rain to the Gulf Coast from southeast Louisiana to the central west coast of Florida, with up to 15 inches in isolated areas.