The National Weather Service put out a summary statement on Olga, which hit the Northshore last weekend, leaving thousands without power. They said Tropical Storm Olga moved rapidly across southeast Louisiana and south Mississippi from midnight through late morning, producing strong winds, high tides and locally heavy rainfall. Strong wind gusts occurred across Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes northeastward through the metro, into the Northshore and into southern Mississipp with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph across this corridor with a few gusts as high as 70 mph. In fact, the highest recorded gust across the region was 73 mph at the Mandeville lakefront. The strongest winds generally lasted 2 to 3 hours as Olga’s remnants moved northeastward around 25 mph. At New Orleans International Airport tropical storm force gusts began at 3:24AM and ended at 5:20AM. In Hammond, tropical storm force wind gusts began at 2:55AM and ended at 5:35AM.
Heavy rainfall of 6 to 8 inches occurred from Friday into early Saturday across the affected area including Tangipahoa and western Washington Parishes. As the remnant circulation of Olga move ashore – strong onshore winds raised water levels 2 to 3 feet above normal during the morning hours in coastal areas of southeast Louisiana and Mississippi. Along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, the Mandeville Lakefront experienced flooding.
The National Weather Service said they will be studying this system over the coming months to learn how they can better forecast any similar situations in the future.
