The last time a storm formed "over land" was in August 1988 when Tropical Depression Three developed over Ponchatoula here in Louisiana. It then proceeded to travel over Lake Ponchartrain becoming a Tropical Storm Beryl in the Gulf of Mexico just off the coast of St. Bernard Parish.

It was a very slow-moving storm which brought very heavy rainfall to areas from Louisiana to Florida. Due to the counter-clockwise circulation of tropical systems, it persistently drove water into Dauphin Island and in Mobile Bay in Alabama. Overall it brought around $3 million dollars in damage.

Beryl then technically made landfall in Point á la Hache, La. and continued to move into Central Louisiana where it finally faded.

Tropical Storm Julia is not forecast to remain a tropical storm for long, but as it moves slowly north, it has a very high chance of slowing down even more. Unless the majority of its rainfall remains off the coast, this could bring heavy rain to portions of coastal Georgia and South Carolina.

Depending on what happens this weekend, we may need to adjust our forecast to represent an increased risk of rainfall across Louisiana, if the bulk of this moisture moves westward. General thinking at the moment is that the moisture will begin to move inland with a northerly component, but still increasing moisture across our area thus enhancing rainfall and bringing afternoon highs to the 80s by the weekend. The thinking here at WBRZ tends to lean toward the other possibility of a ridge building, keeping the bulk of this moisture away, thus leaving us with a weekend of partly sunny skies with only pop-up thunderstorms and lows in the low 90s.

--RGIII

Facebook: Meteorologist Robert Gauthreaux III

Twitter: @RG3wbrz

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En español: Meteorólogo Roberto Gauthreaux III

In American Sign Langauge: Meteorlogist Robert Gauthreaux III - ASL