At 4 o’clock the National Weather Service says the center of Tropical Storm Barry was 20 miles West Southwest of Lafayette and is moving toward the north-northwest near 7 mph. This general motion is expected to continue throughout the evening tonight. A turn toward the north is expected tomorrow. The center is forecasted to move across southern and southwestern Louisiana this evening, and through central Louisiana tonight, and through northern Louisiana on Sunday.
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 65 mph.and these winds are near the coast to the southeast of the center of the storm. Additional weakening is expected as the center moves farther inland, and Barry is forecast to weaken to a depression on Sunday.
Barry may be bringing a bit less rain than was projected this morning as it slowly works it’s way up the state.
Baton Rouge is now in for five to eight inches of rain, down from 10 to 15 earlier today, but National Weather Service Slidell Forecaster Robert Ricks says it’s no reason to get complacent.
Lafayette is now in the crosshairs for Tropical Storm Barry as forecasts show the system will either pass over, or skirt the edges of the capital of Acadiana.
The city will get tropical storm force winds, but Lafayette Parish Director for Emergency Preparedness Craig Stansbury says their biggest concern is the significant amount of rain that is on the way.
Barry is expected to dump 10-15 inches of water across south-central Louisiana, and Governor Edwards says that’s creating a flood risk in the Baton Rouge area. He says the Amite river will crest lower than the Great Flood of August 2016, but…