Tropical Storm Bertha moved inland Thursday afternoon near the border of Texas and Louisiana, after initially striking land over Louisiana on Wednesday and proceeding to head offshore again. The heavy rains now spreading across parts of coastal Texas already impacted a large swath of the northern Gulf Coast along the way. Bertha was expected to maintain tropical storm strength while continuing to track through eastern Texas, gradually weakening and dissipating in the next day or so, the National Hurricane Center said .
Bertha, the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season , has had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph after a gradual decrease since Tuesday night. "On the forecast track, the center of Bertha will move near or along the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts through this afternoon, and then move farther inland into Texas this evening and tonight," the center said. Louisiana state climatologist Jay Grymes said Wednesday he expected some pockets of flooding, but added, "With luck, this will be an in-and-out kind of situation." It appears to have been so.
Wind and storm surge were the main threats facing southern states in Bertha's path, some of which closed parks, piers and certain low-lying roads near the coast as the system approached. In the New Orleans area, residents dealt with an uncommon combination of extreme heat and tropical storm warnings. A tropical storm warning is posted for the Gulf Coast from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas.
"Tropical storm conditions will continue spreading across portions of the northern and northwestern Gulf Coast within the warning area through today," the center said. "Bertha is expected to produce total rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches with isolated totals to 6 inches through tonight along the Texas Gulf Coast and South Texas. This rainfall may produce isolated flash flooding, especially in urban areas," the center cautioned.
The system could also produce storm surge, raising waters up to 2 feet in some coastal parts of Louisiana and Texas. Bertha comes weeks after the 2026 hurricane season's first named storm, Tropical Storm Arthur , which made landfall in June along the Gulf Coast of Texas. Parts of coastal Mississippi still recovering from Arthur's flooding could receive heavy rain during this latest storm, too.
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