Hurricane Laura makes landfall as Category 4 storm near Cameron, La.

Laura closes in on the Louisiana coast, just shy of category 5 strength
August 26, 2020
Water rising quickly at LUMCON
August 27, 2020
Laura closes in on the Louisiana coast, just shy of category 5 strength
August 26, 2020
Water rising quickly at LUMCON
August 27, 2020

At 100 AM CDT (0600 UTC), Doppler radar images indicate that the eye of Hurricane Laura has made landfall at the coast near Cameron, Louisiana, near latitude 29.8 North, longitude 93.3 West. Laura is
moving toward the north near 15 mph (24 km/h), and this motion should continue through the day. A northeastward to east-northeastward motion is expected tonight and Friday. On the forecast track, Laura will move inland across southwestern Louisiana this morning, and then continue northward across the state through this afternoon. The center of Laura is forecast to move over Arkansas tonight, and over the mid-Mississippi Valley on Friday, and the mid-Atlantic states on Saturday.

 

Air Force reconnaissance and Doppler radar data indicate that the maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph (240 km/h) with higher gusts. Rapid weakening is forecast as Laura moves inland.


 

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 miles (335 km). A Weatherflow site in Cameron recently reported a
sustained wind of 101 mph (163 km/h) with a gust to 116 mph (187 km/h). A National Ocean Service site at Calcasieu Pass reported a sustained wind of 93 mph (150 km/h) and a wind gust of 127 mph (204 km/h) within the last hour. A wind gust of 104 mph (167 km/h) was recently reported at Lake Charles, Louisiana.

 

The minimum central pressure estimated the from Air Force Hurricane Hunter observations is 938 mb (27.70 inches).