| The US Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston’s Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) held a Port Coordination Team (PCT) conference call this morning at 0900 hours to look at the situation on the Houston Ship Channel and surrounding region for Tropical Storm Bertha, Your WGMA Maritime Affairs team participated on the call and has the following report for our membership:
National Weather Service:
At 7AM CDT, the center of Tropical Storm Bertha was located near latitude 29.5 North, longitude 88.5 West, or about 45 miles northeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Bertha is moving toward the west near 5 mph (7 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue through Friday with a little acceleration. On the forecast track, Bertha will move near or along the northern Gulf Coast during the next couple of days.
Data from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds remain near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Gradual weakening is forecast over the next several days due to unfavorable environmental conditions.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles (165 km) from the center. A wind gust to 49 mph (79 km/h) was recently reported at the Pensacola Naval Air Station.
Link here to the Satellite loop:
https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/floater.php?stormid=AL022026
Link here to the Watch/Warning Forecast Cone:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at2+shtml/221145.shtml?cone#contents
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Okaloosa/Walton County Line in Florida to Morgan City, Louisiana and for Metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for West of Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas and including Lake Maurepas, LA.
Local forecast for the Houston region:
- TS force winds should first be arriving tomorrow morning.
- Late tomorrow evening will be the most likely timeframe to begin experiencing TS conditions in the bay and inland waters.
- Offshore conditions expected to be 6-8 feet, 20-25 knot winds.
Vessel Traffic Service
Based upon the current forecast, Bolivar Roads will be closed to arriving vessels for bunkering operations at 5AM tomorrow, Thursday, July 23rd. From sunset today, no bunkering vessels (tug/barge) will be allowed into the anchorages. An alert will be issued by VTS later today.
USCG Captain of the Port
No intention to issue an upgrade to the Port Condition.
Please be alert to VTS alerts and reports.
Houston Pilots
- Will closely monitor the situation
- No expected operational changes
- Possible reduced boarding operations if conditions deteriorate
Galveston-Texas City Pilots and Brazos Pilots report same; monitoring the situation and will adjust operations if necessary.
No future PCT calls scheduled unless conditions appreciatively change overnight. |
