ST. LOUIS — Rain could be headed up to the Midwest sometime next week. It's possible the remnants from not one hurricane, but two will slide past St. Louis.
The National Hurricane Center is tracking two storms, Tropical Storm Laura and Tropical Depression Fourteen. The tropical systems could grow to hurricane strength before making landfall in the U.S.
Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum from 5 On Your Side's sister station WWL-TV in New Orleans is keeping a close on both storms. Current forecasts indicate these storms could sandwich Louisiana by next week.
"I've never seen two hurricanes in the gulf," Nussbaum tells 5 On Your Side, "And historically there have never been two hurricanes in the gulf."
Nussbaum has been forecasting in Louisiana for 17 years. He's worked through the big ones; Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Isaac and many more.
With limited data available on dueling tropical systems in the gulf, he is anxious about how next week will go, "I really want to see how this is going to play out. I think there's going to be a chance where just when you think you know what's happening. Mother Nature is going to throw you a curveball."
If the storms get within 200 miles apart, they could impact each other. One storm could slow the other down or potentially stall it. There is also the possibility of the storms strengthening if they stay distanced.
Even though the current projection looks daunting for Louisiana, they could actually luck out with only rain. The main threats would be in the surrounding states where the potential hurricanes make landfall.
"I think this is going to be a very interesting," Nussbaum tells 5 On Your Side, "I bet there's going to be a number of papers written after the fact of how this works, what happened and why it happened."
By Monday, meteorologists will have a better grasp of the strength and path of Tropical Storm Laura and Tropical Depression Fourteen.
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