U.S. Gulf Coast Will See Leftover Moisture from Rafael

What is left of the former Hurricane Rafael is going to cause more issues for the southern U.S. thanks to an influx of moisture. Meanwhile, forecasters are also monitoring another area of new tropical activity brewing in the Caribbean. Here is the latest news from the tropics.

U.S. Gulf Coast Likely to See Impacts from Rafael's Remnants

While the circulation left from Rafael is still weakening as it moves farther to the north in the Gulf of Mexico, the moisture associated with the feature will hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in the days ahead. Rafael continued to break down over the weekend as it churned over the central portion of the Gulf of Mexico. As of late Monday, the feature was simply a mass of unorganized heavy rain and thunderstorms.

The swells generated from this feature will create rough surf conditions and dangerous rip currents for the western part of the Gulf Coast. The moisture that came along with Rafael already targeted parts of eastern Texas and into Louisiana over the weekend. Widespread rainfall of 1 to 8 inches fell across the region, triggering localized flash flooding problems.

Forecasters are predicting that the remnants of Rafael will circle around the western and central portions of the Gulf Coast for the next few days. Increasing amounts of wind shear in this region will work to break the feature apart even further.

A cold front tracking from west to east across the lower Mississippi Valley by the middle of the week will serve to draw up the leftover moisture from Rafael. The front is predicted to move at a fast clip, limiting the amount of rain that will fall over the impacted communities. While the rain will be meaningful enough to create the risk of minor flooding, the weather maker is not shaping to be a serious concern when compared to some of the flooding events over the last few months.

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