Tropical Storm Nestor forms in the Gulf of Mexico; Expected to Bring Dangerous Storm Surge and Winds to the Northern Gulf Coast
The broad area of disturbed weather which the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has been monitoring during the past few days over the Gulf of Mexico has finally acquired a sufficiently defined center to be classified as a tropical cyclone. The storm’s name is Nestor, and it is the fourteenth named storm of the busy 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. As of the National Hurricane Center’s most recent advisory at 4:00 PM CDT (21:00 UTC) October 18, the center of Tropical Storm Nestor is located near 27.0°N, 88.5°W, about 150 mi (240 km) south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, or about 280 mi (450 km) southwest of Panama City, Florida. Nestor is moving toward the northeast at 22 mph (35 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue through Sunday, followed by a turn toward the east-northeast on Sunday afternoon. Maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph (95 km/h), and the minimum central pressure is 999 mb (29.50 inches). Some strengthening is possible tonight before Nestor moves inland over the Florida Panhandle. Nestor is forecast to lose its tropical characteristics by Sunday morning as it moves inland over the southeastern United States and eventually into the western Atlantic as a weakening post-tropical cyclone.
