Map Shows Seven States at Risk From Tropical Storm Sara

A map published by AccuWeather shows the risk of tropical rain and wind for seven states as a tropical system progresses in the western Caribbean.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has been tracking the system, which is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Sara, for the past week. On Wednesday, the hurricane center began issuing advisories about the storm, which is currently named Tropical Depression Nineteen. The system has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, just shy of tropical storm strength.
Tropical Depression Nineteen is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Sara later Thursday, though whether it reemerges in the Gulf and takes aim at the U.S. remains unclear, the NHC said.
However, AccuWeather is warning of low to high risks in several states through November 28 if Tropical Storm Sara continues its path toward the U.S.
States at a low risk for tropical impacts are Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, according to the AccuWeather map. Florida is the only state with a medium and high risk of impacts, with South Florida facing the highest risk.
AccuWeather meteorologist Isaac Longley told Newsweek that rain will pose the biggest threat for states expecting to see an impact from what will become Tropical Storm Sara. A cold front will likely pull tropical moisture from the storm northward, where it will bring rain to Louisiana, Mississippi and further east, he said.
Louisiana and parts of Mississippi recently had bouts of heavy rain, so flooding could be a problem when the tropical moisture arrives in the middle of next week.
The moisture will move east into Florida by Wednesday night, and heavy downpours are expected. Florida could also experience some wind from the storm, with gusts up to 50 mph.
“Nothing to the extent of what we saw with the recent hurricanes there in Florida, with Helene and Milton,” Longley said.
Then the cold front could cause tropical moisture from Sara to move up the Eastern Seaboard to affect South Carolina and North Carolina. Some localized flooding is possible.
AccuWeather meteorologists previously warned the storm could undergo rapid intensification into a major hurricane, but since it’s forming so close to land, that’s unlikely, an updated report said. The NHC now expects Tropical Storm Sara will remain a tropical storm rather than strengthen into a hurricane before it hits Central America. The tropical storm is expected to weaken as it moves across Guatemala and Belize and emerge as a tropical depression in the Gulf.
However, AccuWeather said low wind shear and warm ocean waters in the Gulf could contribute to the storm’s restrengthening.
“Should the current tropical depression ramp up after it emerges over the Gulf of Mexico and become a hurricane, it would be the fourth hurricane this season to hit Florida,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Houk said in a report. “If so, that will surpass the record of three landfalls in one season from 2004.”