Tropical Storm Gordon: Torrential rain hits South Florida top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Tropical storm Gordon is viciously swirling around the southwestern United States, threatening to make landfall as a hurricane very soon. Starting off as a tropical wave, the storm has already dropped inches of torrential rain over the Caribbean. The National Hurricane Centre warned certain areas will be at the mercy of the steadily organising storm, especially around the Florida-Alabama border. Maximum sustained winds are pushing forward at roughly 65mph and the storm is likely to make landfall tonight. Where is tropical storm Gordon? Gordon is currently residing 230 miles off the south east corner of the Mississippi river, where it is moving northwest at a rate of 17mph. While Gordon is steadily moving northwards, winds are stretching outside of the eye, and warnings point to winds extending more than 60 miles from the centre. There is a decrease in speed expected for the storm over the next few days, but will arrive at the lower Mississippi border early tonight. Hurricane Gordon path update- Where is hurricane Gordon? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has set down a number of warnings for the oncoming storm, including a couple for hurricanes. Areas of Louisiana and Mississippi are expecting 8 inches of rain to fall later this evening. In the mouth of the Pearl River and Alabama-Florida border there is a hurricane warning in place from the NHC, meaning that hurricane level winds are on the way. Hurricane level winds will be anything from 74 to 95mph, making the storm close to a category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. For the Mouth of the Pearl River to east of Morgan City, Louisiana, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, there is a tropical storm warning. Hurricane Gordon path update- How strong is Gordon? The Alabama-Florida Border to the Okaloosa-Walton County Line are also to expect tropical storm conditions. Numerous counties in the US are now laying down a state of emergency in anticipation of the weather, which could cause devastating damage. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana Governor, has declared a state of emergency and deployed 200 Louisiana National Guardsmen for the county. The governor has also supplied 63 high-water trucks, 39 boats, and four helicopters. LaToya Cantrell, New Orleans mayor, has also closed all non-essential government services under her own state of emergency declaration. Hurricane Gordon path update- How much rain will fall on Florida?<doc-sep>Tropical Storm Gordon sputtered Wednesday after sweeping ashore overnight, saturating the Gulf Coast but sparing the region a new round of widespread destruction. The storm made landfall just west of the Alabama-Mississippi border at about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said, with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. That’s 4 miles an hour below what’s needed for a tropical cyclone to be classified as a Category One hurricane. Although the authorities said the storm caused minimal property damage, they reported the death of a child who was killed when a tree fell on a mobile home in Escambia County, Fla., on Tuesday night. Tens of thousands of customers spent part of Wednesday without electricity. The hurricane center warned that the storm, which was downgraded to a tropical depression just before sunrise on Wednesday, could bring substantial rain and flooding as it passes over Mississippi and Arkansas. The storm is then expected to turn toward Missouri and wind through the Midwest.<doc-sep>At a Glance Gordon made landfall as a tropical storm late Tuesday night along the Mississippi Gulf coast. Gordon has weakened to a tropical depression and is spreading heavy rain through parts of the Deep South. Flooding rain is possible through Thursday from the western Florida Panhandle to Arkansas. Tropical Depression Gordon will continue to spread heavy rain through the Deep South through Thursday after making landfall Tuesday night along the Gulf Coast. Gordon made landfall just below hurricane strength late Tuesday night near the Alabama/Mississippi border, about 30 miles east of Biloxi, Mississippi. For the latest on Gordon's remnant inland heavy rainfall, check out our latest forecast article here. Storm Recap Advisories were initiated on Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven on Sept. 2, a type of advisory the National Hurricane Center uses to issue watches and warnings with more lead time on tropical disturbances expected to eventually develop into tropical cyclones. In this case, tropical storm watches were first issued for the northern Gulf Coast a full two days ahead of the arrival of tropical-storm-force winds (39-plus mph). South Florida On Labor Day morning, Sept. 3, Tropical Storm Gordon formed near Florida's upper Keys based on surface-wind observations and Doppler radar data from South Florida. Heavy rain pounded portions of South Florida, triggering flash flooding in parts of Miami-Dade County, including Homestead and areas near Miami International Airport. The center of Gordon even passed near Marco Island on Labor Day, which took a direct hit from Irma almost one year ago. An elevated weather station near Key Biscayne, Florida, measured a 63-mph wind gust while a 54-mph gust was clocked at an elevated station near Miami Beach. Sustained winds of 45 mph with a gust to 54 mph were observed at an elevated WeatherFlow station near Dania Beach, Florida. Closer to the ground, a wind gust to 51 mph was reported at Miami's Opa Locka Executive Airport. Advertisement Northern Gulf Coast Flooding overtook the streets of Dauphin Island, Alabama, ahead of Gordon's arrival, making many roads impassible as heavy rain inundated southern Alabama. A 1-foot inundation was observed on the beaches of Dauphin Island early Tuesday evening from Gordon's storm surge despite being near the time of low tide. A water rescue was reported by the Dauphin Island Fire Department near the public beach Tuesday afternoon. The two in the water were successfully pulled from the water, Mobile Traffic reported. The "Causeway" – U.S. 90/98 – across Mobile Bay was closed early Wednesday morning due to flooding. Five to 10 inches of rain triggered flash flooding in parts of Baldwin and Escambia counties in Alabama, as well as Santa Rosa and Escambia counties in Florida. In Alabama, power lines were downed in Grand Bay, near Mobile and in Orange Beach by strong winds. A downed tree crushed a vehicle in Thomasville. In Mississippi, trees were downed by Gordon's winds in Laurel, Brooklyn and near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. A tree fell onto a trailer killed one in West Pensacola, Florida. An elevated weather station at Fort Morgan, Alabama, reported sustained winds of 68 mph with a gust to 78 mph near the time of Gordon's landfall late Tuesday night. A Coastal-Marine Automated Network station on the eastern end of Dauphin Island, Alabama, measured a gust to 74 mph Tuesday evening. A wind gust to 61 mph was reported near Pascagoula, Mississippi.<doc-sep>
After slamming the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and killing a child in Florida, Tropical Storm Gordon weakened to a tropical depression on Wednesday morning, but it still posed a serious flooding risk. Gordon made landfall Tuesday night with fierce winds and heavy rains just west of the Alabama-Mississippi border, drenching residents from Florida to Louisiana. One death was attributed to the storm when a child was killed after a tree fell on a mobile home in Pensacola, Florida, on Tuesday night. Winds had died from Gordon's peak of 70 mph — just shy of the 74-mph wind requirement for a storm to be categorized as a hurricane — to 45 mph by Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service said. But the threat of rain and flash floods could last until Thursday, and significant parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas remained under flash flood watches. "This system is going to eventually interact with another system and bring more flooding even further inland," NBC News' Al Roker said. "The winds are dying down, but the rain is still going to be a big problem." Child killed after tree falls on mobile home in Pensacola. After getting a closer look this isn’t an uprooted tree. It’s a large limb of a tree. https://t.co/iJ5RMyr2x7 pic.twitter.com/bGpRHWVMqJ — Muriel Bailey (@MurielWPMI) September 5, 2018 Gordon is expected to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain from the western Florida Panhandle west to Arkansas and north to Illinois, with isolated maximums of a foot through early Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said. Power had been restored to all but about 5,000 customers in Gulf Coast counties from Mississippi to Florida, utility companies reported Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, tornadoes were also possible at some point Wednesday or Wednesday night in Mississippi and western Alabama, according to the hurricane center. Tropical Storm Gordon hit Pascagoula, Mississippi, on Tuesday. Joe Raedle / Getty Images The Cajun Navy, the volunteer collection of Louisiana boaters who flock to tropical storms and hurricanes to lend assistance, made its way to Gulfport on Tuesday. "They're our neighbors, and we know what happens with the different terrains and what to expect," Clyde Cain, a Cajun Navy volunteer, told NBC affiliate WDSU of New Orleans. "So we're here to back up the first responders and be on call." Meanwhile, another storm was being closely monitored by forecasters: Florence became the first major hurricane of the Atlantic season on Wednesday. At 5 p.m. ET, Florence was centered about 1,295 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and was moving northwest at 13 mph. Forecasters said it could cause dangerous swells and rip currents in Bermuda by Friday, but no watches or warnings were issued.