As of 11 pm on August 21, Tropical Storm Marco has formed southeast of the Yucutan Peninsula of Mexico and is expected to slowly strengthen and move NW near the tip of the peninsula before continuing into the western Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to make landfall as a tropical storm along the Texas coast sometime Tuesday night. It should not affect the Southeast.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Laura continues to move towards the WNW in the Atlantic Ocean. The current forecast track moves the storm almost directly over Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Cuba, which will keep it as a tropical storm. Once it passes into the Gulf of Mexico it should develop into a hurricane and make landfall on Wednesday night on the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama. This track is farther west then earlier tracks and keeps Florida and Georgia completely out of the cone where the center is expected to pass. However, impacts from Laura will still be seen in those areas in the form of bands of heavy rain and some gusty winds.

Because the two storms are so close together, some interaction between the two is possible, which makes the exact path and strength of each storm unusually difficult to predict accurately. It important to keep paying attention to updated information from the National Hurricane Center to make sure you have the latest information (https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/). Tracks, intensity, and impacts will all continue to change as the storms evolve over the next few days.