MIAMI, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center has issued an important tropical update this morning regarding the developing low-pressure system in the northern Gulf of America, officially tracked as Invest 97-L.
In its 8:00 a.m. CDT advisory, meteorologists warned that tropical storm watches or warnings could be required for portions of the northwest Gulf Coast later today. The system is currently organizing over warm Gulf waters and continues to track steadily west-northwestward toward the upper Texas and Louisiana coastlines.
While the system has not yet been designated as a named tropical storm, it is generating active wind speeds between 30 and 35 miles per hour. Environmental conditions remain highly favorable for further organization over the next 24 hours. Forecasters expect the system to organize into a short-lived tropical depression or tropical storm before making landfall late Tuesday.
The primary threat to the northwest Gulf Coast remains heavy, localized rainfall. Forecasters warn that the slow-moving nature of the disturbance could trigger significant flash flooding and coastal flooding across low-lying areas in Texas and western Louisiana.
For residents in South Florida, Invest 97-L poses absolutely no direct threat as it continues to pull away toward the western Gulf. Local meteorologists are instead keeping a close eye on the remnants of a separate system, Tropical Storm Dolly, which is projected to drag a deep plume of tropical moisture into the Florida Straits by midweek, bringing a high localized risk of heavy rainfall and urban street flooding to Miami-Dade and Broward counties by Wednesday.