Louisiana gets a break in Marco forecast

The latest forecast for Hurricane Marco -- now Tropical Storm Marco -- represents a big break for Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a midday press conference Monday.

But that doesn't mean the state's coast will be as lucky with Tropical Storm Laura -- soon to be Hurricane Laura -- when it strikes late Wednesday.

The 10 a.m. guidance on Marco from the National Hurricane Center goes like this:

"Based on the updated intensity forecast, tropical storm conditions are no longer expected to be produced by Marco over the central portions of the Louisiana coast, and the Tropical Storm Warnings for those locations have been discontinued."

That means winds are expected to be less than 39 mph as Marco scrapes westward along the Louisiana coast. It is predicted to weaken into a tropical depression about the time it crosses through eastern St. Mary Parish early Tuesday morning.

Shear continues to prevent Marco from becoming stronger and better organized.

"There's no doubt that if that holds up, we'll get a big break ...," Edwards said. "We're not going to have two hurricanes, and we're not going to have a short window of 12 to 18 hours to do search and rescue and so forth."

But people shouldn't assume Laura will be so accommodating.

Laura is expected to become a hurricane sometime Tuesday and make landfall south of Lake Charles late Wednesday or early Thursday. By then it will be a strong Category 2 hurricane, with winds up to 110 mph, or even a Category 3.

Laura is a much larger storm, and tropical winds may be felt from Baton Rouge to Houston, Edwards said.

Laura is also expected to bring up to 10 inches of rain across a wide area and a storm surge of 10 feet on the southwest Louisiana coast.