Tropical Storms Laura and Marco on simultaneous marches toward the Gulf of Mexico; Florida mostly out of forecast track

Tropical Storms Laura and Marco continue their march toward the Gulf of Mexico Saturday according to the 2 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center, setting up a potentially historic event if both develop into hurricanes simultaneously.

A Hurricane Hunter aircraft investigated Tropical Storm Laura and found it had become ragged and disorganized. In the latest update, forecasters shifted the storm’s track further away from Florida’s mainland but Key West remained in the cone.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Marco was off the western tip of Cuba on Saturday afternoon and is forecast to develop into a hurricane in the next 12 hours as it moves north through the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane center said.

Both storm tracks are unusually close to each other and both are forecast to make landfall anywhere along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana at nearly the same time. If and how the two storms will interact with each other are highly uncertain, forecasters said.

Warnings for Tropical Storm Laura were posted for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Haiti and the Bahamas and several others in the eastern Caribbean.

Heather Carruthers, the mayor of Monroe County, which covers the Florida Keyes, declared a state of emergency on Friday, ordering the mandatory evacuation of all live-aboard vessels, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, travel trailers, and campers.

General population shelters will be discussed Saturday to open on Sunday at 3 p.m. for those who live in vulnerable homes or aboard boats, she said.

The latest forecast shows Laura in the Florida Straits between Cuba and the Keys as a tropical storm on Monday morning, then becoming a hurricane further north in the Gulf of Mexico. The track has Laura making landfall somewhere over Louisiana to the tip of the Florida Panhandle as a hurricane in the middle of next week.

South Florida is unlikely to get the full brunt of a tropical storm or hurricane but that doesn’t mean we won’t feel some of its effects, according to a National Weather Service briefing Friday.

“Tropical storm conditions remain possible across parts of southern Florida on Monday into Monday night,” the National Weather Service. “This threat has decreased with the past few advisories but fluctuations remain possible.”

In a letter, Gov. Ron DeSantis asked President Donald Trump to declare a pre-landfall emergency in 34 counties, including Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

Tropical Storm Laura had sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving quickly at 18 mph toward the west, according to the hurricane center’s advisory at 2 p.m. Saturday. The storm was moving across the northern Leeward Islands.

The system -- which is about 60 miles southwest of Ponce in Puerto Rico -- could cause storm surge, rainfall and heavy wind in portions of Hispaniola, Cuba, the Bahamas and far southern Florida this weekend.

South Florida residents should continue to monitor its progress. Whether or not the storm moves over the terrain of Greater Antilles this weekend will factor into its track and intensity. Storms generally lose intensity over land and may encounter storm-weakening wind shear.

As of 2 p.m., hurricane hunting aircraft had determined Tropical Storm Marco is strengthening. It is about 50 miles southwest off the western tip of Cuba, moving north-northwest at 12 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph.

It could also be a hurricane next week off the coast of Texas or Louisiana.

Tropical Storm Marco is the 13th named storm of the hurricane season. Tropical Storm Laura was the 12th storm of the year, matching the record for the most number of tropical storms before September. The only other time that happened was in 2005, the year of Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma.

After Laura and Marco, the next named storms of 2020 are Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.

Staff writer David Fleshler and Keven Lerner contributed to this report.

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