At 700  Barry has been meandering during the past few hours, but is expected to resume a motion toward the west-northwest near 4 mph. A motion toward the northwest should begin overnight, followed by a turn toward the north tomorrow night or Sunday.  On the forecast track, the center of Barry will approach the south-central coast of Louisiana tonight and then make landfall over the south-central Louisiana coast on Saturday.   Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph.  Strengthening is forecast before landfall, and Barry is expected to be a hurricane when the center reaches the coast on Saturday.  Weakening is expected after Barry moves inland.

Several feet of storm surge is predicted along the coast, but State Climatologist Barry Keim says the biggest concern is the 10-20 inches of rain that will fall across south Louisiana, particularly on the east side of the track.