Tropical Storm Bertha Forms Off Florida Gulf Coast, Forecast to Bring Heavy Rain
The National Hurricane Center reports that Tropical Storm Bertha, now 110 miles south of Panama City, is moving west-northwest with 40 mph winds and could cause flash flooding along the Gulf Coast through Friday.
The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Bertha developed Monday night off Florida's Gulf Coast. At 8 p.m. EDT, the storm was located about 110 miles south of Panama City, Florida, and roughly 190 miles southeast of Mobile, Alabama, moving west-northwest at 3 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. NOAA Hurricane Hunters confirmed that the system, previously classified as Tropical Depression Two, had intensified into a tropical storm.
The agency issued a Storm Surge Watch from the Alabama-Florida border to the mouth of the Mississippi River and a Tropical Storm Watch extending from the Ochlockonee River in Florida westward to the Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish border in Louisiana. Forecasts call for 2-4 inches of rain across the Gulf Coast and nearby islands, with isolated totals near 8 inches through Friday. The NHC warned that the rainfall could trigger flash flooding, particularly in urban areas.