JACKSON, Miss.–Around 9 a.m. Thursday the latest hurricane observation plane cruised over the storm in the Gulf of Mexico and officially made the call to upgrade a weather disturbance to tropical storm Karen.
“The airplane that was investigating found a closed center and about 60 mph winds,” said meteorologist Steve Wilkinson with the National Weather Service.
Currently the track of the storm looks to be taking it directly north.
“The Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida panhandle area is where it’s forecasted to make landfall right now.”
A hurricane watch is now in effect from Grand Isle, La., to Indian Pass, Fla. with the possibility of it upgrading to that strength over the next 48 hours.
“The time period looks to be Saturday evening or Saturday night and would be on the east side of Mississippi, but that can obviously changed,” he said when asked about when the U.S. could see the storm.
Wilkinson noted that the further East it hits, the less rain the state will receive due to it moving off East naturally after landfall.
If you live on the Gulf Coast make sure to continue to monitor the situation and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency as to what is going on with the storm.
