Hurricane Nate Path: Track Latest Map of LA, FL, MS, AL

NOAA

Hurricane Nate is quickly approaching the U.S. Gulf coast and will likely make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane this weekend (although some reports estimate that it could strengthen to a Category 2 first.) Some along the U.S. mainland are wondering how its path will affect Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, or Mississippi.

The map above shows a cone estimating the probable path of the center of Nate. It does not reflect the size of the storm. Any predicted hurricane warnings are in red above, and tropical storm warnings are in blue. Hurricane watches are in pink and tropical storm watches are in yellow. As you can see, the cone is predicting that the storm will miss Florida entirely and will be the biggest concern to Louisiana and Mississippi, and then Alabama.

As of 4 a.m., Hurricane Nate was located at 24.5 N, 87.0 W, about 345 miles SSE of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Its present movement is NNW at 22 mph with a minimum central pressure of 987 mb.

A turn toward the north is forecast for Sunday morning, followed by a turn toward the north-northeast, according to the NOAA. Some strengthening may still happen before Nate makes landfall on the northern Gulf coast.

Next is the another map from the National Hurricane Center estimating where the center of the storm will go.

NOAA

Here’s the legend for the map above:

NOAA

Google now has a fascinating “Crisis Map” for Maria created by Google Crisis Response. See the full map here. Below is what it looks like at the time of publication.

Google

Here’s an experimental map showing when tropical storm force winds will arrive next. Hurricane force winds extend 35 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend up to 125 miles from the center.