As I write this at 9:48 pm on the 26th, Major Hurricane Laura is just a few hours from making landfall as expected near Lake Charles LA and the border with Texas. It is just shy of a category 5 storm and could reach that before it makes landfall. In size and intensity, Laura is behaving a lot like Hurricane Michael in 2018. The storm surge associated with the storm is expected to reach 15 feet and could devastate that region for a long time. By the time you read this in the morning, we will get our first glimpse off how bad it is. Damage is likely to spread beyond LA into Arkansas because it takes so long for a hurricane to spin down from winds that strong. But by the time it gets near the Southeast, it will be much weaker and will mostly just bring some rain.
Meanwhile, the next wave is moving off of Africa. It is not expected to develop for the next couple of days, but after that slow strengthening is possible. We’re not at the peak of the season yet, and several more waves are lined up across Africa.
