The National Hurricane Center hopes to have a better idea soon on what will happen with the low pressure system that has moved into the Gulf of Mexico.
Known as Invest 92, the disturbance remains disorganized today.
"A broad low pressure area located over the far northeastern Gulf of Mexico is producing widespread but disorganized showers and thunderstorms," Dr. Richard Pasch explained from the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The Senior Hurricane Specialist said, however, that environmental conditions are conducive for development.
"An Air Force Reserve Unit reconnaissance aircraft is scheduled to investigate the disturbance this afternoon."
Forecasters are looking more and more to the Texas and Louisiana coasts for the largest impact.
"This system could produce storm surge and tropical storm or hurricane force winds across portions of the Louisiana, Mississippi and Upper Texas coasts, and interests there should closely monitor its progress. In addition, this disturbance has the potential to produce very heavy rainfall from the Upper Texas Coast to the Florida Panhandle," Pasch said.
WWL TV Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum says the system is expected to become Tropical Storm Barry by Friday and may be Hurricane Barry before landfall on Saturday somewhere between New Orleans and Houston.
"The possibility of maybe a hurricane just south of us and making landfall to the west," he said. "Saturday is kinda the go day with potential landfall."
Nussbaum says the two most reliable models, the American and the European, both forecast a landfall west of New Orleans.
"This morning the American model has been a little bit more to the west, but still producing 8 to 15 inches or so of rain for us." He says the European model shows the center further west of New Orleans.
"The European... only shows 3 to 6 inches of rain now for us because it is more of a western landfall closer to the Sabine River or state line of Texas and Louisiana."
He notes, however, that until we get a closed circulation with a depression, the models are not as reliable.
"They need, still, something to grab on to," Nussbaum said. "We are still waiting to see once we have a better circulation, a closed circulation."
We could see tropical storm and hurricane watches issued today.