Pesky disturbance in Gulf of Mexico lingers off Louisiana coast

MIAMI — A broad disturbance just off the Gulf of Mexico currently soaking Texas and Louisiana is being monitored for potential tropical development, but the window for that happening is quickly dwindling.According to the National Hurricane Center, a trough of low pressure is currently producing a large but disorganized area of thunderstorms along and just offshore of the Texas and Louisiana coasts.The NHC said the system is expected to continue to meander near the coast for the next few days, and some slow development is possible if it remains offshore.However, the NHC said that by Tuesday, the system is forecast to move inland, and further development is not expected.The agency warned that regardless of tropical development, heavy rains could cause flash flooding along portions of the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts over the next few days.”Heavy rain (and) persistent rain is likely, especially south of Interstate 10,” said FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross. “But some of it obviously is going to spread north of I-10 as well. Metro Houston and Metro New Orleans are both affected by this, besides Lake Charles, Lafayette and the other cities there along the coast.”Rainfall totals could reach 5-8 inches through the Labor Day weekend in those areas, with isolated spots approaching a foot of rain. Through Monday, an additional few inches of rain is possible along the Texas and Louisiana coasts.One area along the Gulf Coast that certainly doesn’t need more heavy rain is Galveston, which was already running 19 inches ahead of average for annual rainfall before this latest storm. The rain is having a dual effect of dampening the popular Labor Day weekend travel spot and hampering recovery efforts from earlier tropical systems. “(My daughter) is so sad she wants to go swimming and run and… I don’t know if the rain’s for her,” said Kimberly Williams, who was visiting Galveston with her family from Denver. “The sunshine normally makes the beach a very nice place.”While travelers try to make the best of a gray weekend, city managers are still working to shore up the beaches that were hit hard from Tropical Storm Alberto and Hurricane Beryl that pummeled the area earlier this summer, leading to some beach erosion.Galveston Coastal Resources Manager Kyle Clark told FOX Weather the city has restored about 70-80% of what was lost during Beryl.HURRICANE BERYL PUMMELS TEXAS WITH TORNADOES, 90 MPH GUSTS”There are some concerns in some of the areas that collect more of the rainwater of eroding some of the sand this week that we placed back out there,” Clark said. “So we’ll probably have to reevaluate that after the rain to see if we need to take some more (sand) back out there.”Forecasts call for another 3 inches of rain through the weekend.”I think it’s safe to say the folks here in Galveston definitely deserve a break from all the rain,” FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell said. “But there’s more ahead.”The new Gulf disturbance now joins two other disturbances tracked by the NHC. The one with currently the highest odds for development remains about halfway across the Atlantic. Thunderstorms remained disorganized as of Friday, but the NHC says storms have become more concentrated near its axis.  ATLANTIC AWAKENS WITH 2 TROPICAL DISTURBANCES BEING TRACKED AS HURRICANE SEASON NEARS PEAKThe storm is currently holding at a medium chance of developing into at least a tropical depression, if not more, over the next seven days.Farther east, another potential tropical disturbance is just emerging off the west coast of Africa. The NHC says that the system is currently just a disorganized area of thunderstorms that are a little more concentrated near its axis, but atmospheric conditions do indicate the potential for slow development toward the middle of next week as it drifts over the eastern tropical Atlantic. The agency pegs the current development odds as low during the next seven days.