Not much rain overnight for St. Mary

St. Mary Parish saw little rainfall Wednesday night and into Thursday morning with wind gusts topping out just over 30 mph after Tropical Storm Cindy made landfall early Thursday.

Some more rain-bands were projected to come in from the Gulf of Mexico later Thursday, and there was the potential for St. Mary Parish to get 1 to 3 inches of rain from the storm, National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Rua said.

As of Thursday morning it was unknown exactly what areas would get the worst of the rain from Cindy.

“You can’t really just say one spot. There’s just several spots that are going to have these feeder bands come in,” Rua said.

The storm made first landfall between 2 to 4 a.m. Thursday around Cameron, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas, Rua said.

When the storm made landfall, Cindy’s sustained winds were about 40 to 45 mph with gust to 50 to 55 mph.

Wind gusts reached about 31 mph in St. Mary Parish with sustained winds in the low 20 mph range, he said.

Harry P Williams Memorial Airport near Patterson got only about 2/100 of an inch overnight. Some areas in St. Mary Parish may have gotten more rain than that, though, Rua said.

A flash flood watch is in effect until 7 p.m. Thursday for most of south Louisiana and further inland, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

Rua doesn’t expect the winds to get any worse than what the area has already seen “now that everything’s coming on shore,” he said.

Showers were likely with a 70 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms possible Thursday, the forecast stated. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. A south wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch were possible.

On Thursday night, there’s 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. A south wind of around 15 mph was projected, with gusts as high as 25 mph. New rainfall amounts will be between a tenth and quarter of an inch. Higher amounts are possible in thunderstorms, the forecast says.

On Friday, showers and thunderstorms are likely with a 70 percent chance of rain. A south wind is projected around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch are possible.