Tropical Storm Bertha Heads Toward Landfall in Louisiana

Stormy conditions are expected to hit parts of the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Bertha moves parallel to Mississippi and Louisiana.

As of the morning of July 22, the second named storm of the 2026 hurricane season retained its 50 mph maximum sustained wind speed.

Its center was clocked 55 miles north-northeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 40 miles south of Pascagoula, Mississippi.

However, tropical storm winds (sustained winds 39 mph–73 mph) extend 105 miles from the center.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect for a vast swath of the Gulf Coast from Florida’s Okaloosa–Walton County line to Morgan City, Louisiana.

That includes cities such as Pensacola, Mobile, Biloxi, and Gulfport.

Metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain are also under a warning.

The National Hurricane Center said that Bertha was “wobbling” in a west-northwest direction at six mph, with the expectation that it would pick up speed.

Forecasts expect it to make landfall in Louisiana just south of New Orleans by 7 p.m. CT on July 22, near the city of Houma.

After that, the NHC predicted, “The center of Bertha will move near or along the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts through Thursday [July 23], and then move farther inland into Texas on Friday [July 24].”

A tropical storm watch remains in effect for Lake Maurepas and the stretch of the Gulf Coast West of Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas.

This includes Galveston, Texas City, and Lake Jackson.

Bertha’s center is expected to reach the Brazos River between Houston and Angleton by 7 p.m. CT on July 23.

Expected effects of the cyclone include a storm surge of one to three feet for coastal areas, with most of eastern Louisiana from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Mississippi–Alabama state line told to expect two to four feet.

“The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast,” the National Hurricane Center stated in its advisory. “Surge-related flooding depends on the relative timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and can vary greatly over short distances.”

Bertha’s counterclockwise rotation is also expected to continue delivering life-threatening surf conditions and rip currents along Gulf Coast beaches.

In terms of rainfall, the National Hurricane Center anticipates one to four inches of rain with isolated incidents of up to six inches that could cause flash flooding in urban areas.

None of the Gulf Coast states had issued a state of emergency by 10 a.m. on July 22, but Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry directed his residents to an online resource center and urged them to stay prepared and up to date on the storm’s development.