Laura has weakened to a Tropical Storm

Storm made landfall close to 1 a.m. Thursday morning

Latest track for Tropical Storm Laura; Valid Thursday, August 27th (KSAT 12)

The latest on Laura

Laura made landfall at close to 1AM Thursday morning near Cameron, Louisiana as an extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph and gusts up to 185 mph.

As of 12PM Thursday, Hurricane Laura has weakened to a Tropical Storm as its center has moved inland over Louisiana. While Laura is longer a major hurricane, it still has strong winds and is producing heavy rain over parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Laura continues to move north at around 16 mph this afternoon.

Latest stats for Tropical Storm Laura; Valid Thursday, August 27th (KSAT 12)

City of Galveston orders mandatory evacuation ahead of Hurricane Laura

The latest track from the National Hurricane Center - which can be seen at the top of this page - shows Laura moving through Arkansas as a tropical storm Thursday afternoon and evening.

San Antonio nursing home takes in evacuees from Galveston fleeing Hurricane Laura

Impact to Texas/Louisiana Coastal Border

Areas from Galveston Bay to Vermilion Bay in Louisiana will have to deal with storm surge from Laura. According to the National Hurricane Center, surge of up to 15-20 feet in places will be “unsurvivable,” inundating land well inland along the Sabine and Calcasieu Rivers.

Areas from Galveston Bay to Vermilion Bay in Louisiana will have to deal with storm surge from Laura. (Copyright 2020 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)

As for those of us around San Antonio, we’ll continue to stay on the dry side of Laura. While we may have a few isolated showers and storms Thursday, it will mainly be hot with plenty of sunshine.

Follow KSAT Meteorologist Justin Horne as he reports from the Texas Coast ahead of Hurricane Laura

Stay Informed

You can follow along with Your Weather Authority as we continue to track Laura by downloading the KSAT Weather Authority app for Apple or Android. Be sure to allow notifications for updates, including livestreams from KSAT meteorologists.

Our KSAT Hurricane Tracker app also allows you to monitor the tropics from your phone during the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which runs until November 30.

Types of Tropical Systems

Tropical systems have various names, depending on their wind strength. Watch the video below as KSAT Meteorologist Sarah Spivey takes some time to explain the different tropical categories.


About the Authors:

Sarah Spivey is a San Antonio native who grew up watching KSAT. She has been a proud member of the KSAT Weather Authority Team since 2017. Sarah is a Clark High School and Texas A&M University graduate. She previously worked at KTEN News. When Sarah is not busy forecasting, she enjoys hanging out with her husband and cat, and playing music.

Kaiti Blake is a child weather-geek-turned-meteorologist. A member of the KSAT Weather Authority, Kaiti is a co-host of the Whatever the Weather video podcast. After graduating from Texas Tech University, Kaiti worked at WJTV 12 in Jackson, Mississippi and KTAB in Abilene.