Marine Thunderstorm Wind — Lake Borgne, Gulf of Mexico

2024-02-03 · near Shell Beach Station (shbl1), Lake Borgne, Gulf of Mexico

Event narrative

The Weatherflow mesonet station XBYU Bayou Bienvenue measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 44 knots or 50 mph.

Wider weather episode

A surface low developed in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. As this low and developing cold front appendant to it tracked east along the northern Gulf Coast, a wide swath of showers and coastal thunderstorms moved across the coastal waters. Lightning data showed that the vast majority of storms to be offshore, where the warm sector was. It's in this area that the storms were able to utilize available elevated instability. Further buoyancy from pressure height falls as the surface low moves in closer and mid-level heights fall enhanced robustness of thunderstorms. Several marine locations recorded severe wind gusts.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.0292, -89.9031)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1162351. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.