Hurricane Laura is currently a Category 4 storm after rapidly gaining strength overnight.
According to a report from meteorologist Phillip Kltzbach, of Colorado State, Laura’s 24-hour intensification between Tuesday and Wednesday was the largest since Hurricane Karl in 2010.
#Laura's maximum sustained winds have increased from 75 mph to 125 mph in the past 24 hr. That's the largest 24-hr rate of intensification (50 mph in 24 hr) for a tropical cyclone in the Gulf of Mexico since Karl in 2010 (65 mph in 24 hr). #hurricane #HurricaneLaura pic.twitter.com/LZVJlp7YuZ
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) August 26, 2020The storm increased over 50 miles per hour overnight.
Latest forecasts have Laura with maximum sustained winds near 140 mph and the Hurricane Center advises the storm could strengthen. Those sustained winds make Laura the strongest August hurricane since Katrina in 2005.
#Laura continues to strengthen and is now a Category 4 #hurricane with max winds of 140 mph. Laura is now the strongest August hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Katrina (2005). #HurricaneLaura pic.twitter.com/U9uR7SUcMn
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) August 26, 2020The 10 a.m. forecast called for winds to grow to up to 145 mph before landfall near the Louisiana/Texas state line with a 20-foot storm surge that the National Weather Service called "unsurvivable."
That area is expected to received over a foot of rain. The Hurricane Center projects just one to two inches of rain in the New Orleans area.
