• 64°

Invest 99L update: less threatening, may become Tropical Storm Hermine, threaten Gulf Coast

The hype that the storm named invest 99L by the National Hurricane Center may slip into the Gulf of Mexico and strengthen into a strong storm that strikes the Gulf Coast are subsiding.

The latest forecasts regarding invest 99L suggest the storm will still likely move into the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days, where it could strengthen. The National Hurricane Center says conditions in the Gulf are more favorable for tropical development.

But the latest forecast from weather experts suggests it may be heavy rain or a tropical depression that the Gulf Coast gets, not Hurricane Hermine. It is still possible, though, that the storm could become Tropical Storm Hermine and if so it would likely strike the coast on Tuesday or Wednesday. Rain to areas like Louisiana that are already flood-ravaged would be damaging.

Area residents are advised to monitor weather developments closing over the weekend.

Here’s the latest from weather.com on the Gulf Coast: “With the upper-level high in place, this system is then expected to be pushed into the Gulf of Mexico, with the potential for a second landfall somewhere along the Gulf Coast next week, possibly as a tropical storm. This is all dependent on if the system develops.”