Tropical Storm Sally Develops in Gulf, Expected to Affect Mississippi Next Week

RALEIGH, MS - Over the weekend, Tropical Depression Nineteen moved off the coast of Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, becoming Tropical Storm Sally. Sally is expected to continue strengthening and make landfall south of New Orleans, Louisiana sometime next week. Currently, a Hurricane Warning is in effect for all of the Mississippi coastal counties with a hurricane watch and tropical storm watch extending further inland.

At 11:00 AM EDT, the center of Tropical Storm Sally was located near latitude 27.5N, longitude 84.9W, or about 280 miles east-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Sally is moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph, and a west-northwestward or northwestward motion is expected through Monday. A decrease in forward speed and a turn toward the north-northwest is forecast on Monday night, and slow north-northwestward motion is expected Tuesday. On the forecast track, the center of Sally will move over the eastern Gulf of Mexico today, move over the north-central Gulf of Mexico tonight and Monday, and approach the north-central Gulf Coast within the hurricane warning area late Monday and Monday night. Sally is expected to move farther inland over southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday and Tuesday night. Data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 60 mph with higher gusts. Strengthening is expected over the next day or so, and Sally is forecast to become a hurricane on Monday, with some additional strengthening possible before landfall Monday night. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 90 miles primarily to the east of the center. The latest minimum central pressure estimated from reconnaissance aircraft data is 998 mb.

It is imperative that you plan now for potential hurricane conditions next week. Once again, we find ourselves on the upper right side of a landfalling tropical system, which contains the greatest hazards. You can find information on how to plan for a tropical system by downloading the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency's 2020 Hurricane Preparedness Guide here.

Should an evacuation be ordered for the Gulf Coast, please make yourself aware of the evacuation routes.

Evacuation routes in coastal Mississippi are:
- Interstate 10
- Interstate 110
- Interstate 59
- US Highway 90
- US Highway 49
- US Highway 98
- State Route 43
- State Route 603
- State Route 53
- State Route 605
- State Route 67
- State Route 15
- State Route 609
- State Route 57
- State Route 63

While an evacuation would not be expected for Smith County, evacuation routes in Smith County include:
- State Route 35
- State Route 28
- State Route 13

For around the clock updates, follow Smith County Emergency Management on Facebook.