Tropical Storm Bertha formed on Monday, threatening the Gulf Coast with heavy rain as it became the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
The storm was located south of the Florida Panhandle, packing maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service. It was moving west-northwest at about 3 mph.
A map of the system, previously known as Tropical Depression Two, shows its expected track along the Gulf Coast, moving west from the Panhandle before reaching the New Orleans area and eventually eastern Texas later this week.
“A slow northwestward motion is expected through tonight, followed by a turn toward the west-northwest or west,” the weather service said on Monday. “On the forecast track, the depression will move near or along the northern Gulf coast during the next several days.”
A Tropical Storm Watch was in effect for an area stretching from the Ochlockonee River in Florida to the Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish border in Louisiana. A Storm Surge Watch was in effect for the Alabama/Florida border to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Forecasters warned of rainfall up to 8 inches in some areas. Rain was expected through the week and along the Gulf Coast and in adjacent inland areas from western Florida to the Texas coast. Parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana will also be affected and the rainfall could bring flash flooding.
The system could also produce storm surge, raising waters up to 4 feet in some locations along the Gulf Coast.
Bertha comes weeks after the 2026 hurricane season’s first named storm, Tropical Storm Arthur, which made landfall in June along the Gulf Coast of Texas.
