Forecasters are warning that a disturbance in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico could become a tropical storm this weekend that impacts travel along the northern Gulf Coast of the United States.
According to The Associated Press, officials from the National Hurricane Center said a low-pressure system is expected to continue moving away from the eastern coast of Mexico and develop into a tropical or subtropical system on Friday.
A tropical disturbance over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico is expected to develop into Tropical Storm Nestor overnight or on Friday. The system will move to the northeast, approaching the northern Gulf Coast Friday night and then move over parts of the Southeast on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/xr1zkTKRLJ
— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) October 17, 2019
Due to the high wind and heavy rain headed to the Gulf Coast, meteorologists have issued tropical storm warnings for parts of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. Storm surge warnings have also been issued along the Florida Gulf Coast.
MORE Impacting Travel
Airports in the region are calling on travelers to reach out to their respective airlines before hitting the road to see if flights are canceled or delayed as a result of the storm. Carriers such as American Airlines have already issued travel advisories and began waiving change fees.
If the weather system continues to develop as forecasted, it could become Tropical Storm Nestor. Currently, the storm was measured with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour and was moving northeast at 12 miles per hour.
The storm is expected to dump as much as three inches of rain on the Florida Panhandle coast and as much as 1.5 inches inland. The weather system is then expected to move northward over eastern North Carolina before moving back over water.
The high winds associated with the storm have also caused concern in New Orleans as officials fear they could further destabilize the 18-story Hard Rock Hotel that partially collapsed last week. Authorities are working on using controlled explosions to bring down unstable construction cranes before the wind knocks them down.