Escalation: National Hurricane Center expands storm surge watches

On Monday, July 20, the National Hurricane Center expanded storm-surge watches from Florida to Louisiana as a Gulf system strengthened, with Tropical Storm Bertha expected to begin affecting parts of the Gulf Coast as early as Monday night. Some outlets said Bertha had already formed Monday; others still referred to it as Tropical Depression Two earlier in the day.

The Guardian reported the storm’s center was about 110 miles south of Panama City, Florida, and warned of heavy rain along the U.S. Gulf Coast. That placed the core just off the Florida Panhandle as it moved slowly.

In northwest Florida, Pensacola was told to prepare for impacts beginning Monday night, according to the Pensacola News Journal. The Gulf Islands National Seashore closed Fort Pickens and other areas in Florida and Mississippi ahead of the storm, the paper said.

The NHC cautioned about “life-threatening inundation” from storm surge and broadened the watch area to cover multiple Gulf states, TechTimes reported. Meanwhile, Jacksonville was forecast to avoid direct impacts this week, per Jacksonville.com.

Yale Climate Connections said the system was crawling in the Gulf under strong wind shear, which can disrupt intensification, even as its wind field expanded enough to spread heavy rain and surge threats. WAFB in Baton Rouge noted it was forecast to become Tropical Storm Bertha by Monday at the latest.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources