Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall near the Biloxi Wildlife Management Area in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, at approximately 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, bringing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) as it moved west-northwest along the Gulf Coast.
At landfall, the center of Bertha was located about 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Biloxi, Mississippi, and 40 miles (64 km) east of New Orleans, moving at just 7 mph (11 km/h). Tropical Storm Warnings remain in effect from the Florida Panhandle westward to Morgan City, including metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, where tropical storm conditions are expected through Wednesday night.
High surf and strong winds from Tropical Storm Bertha hit the pier in Panama City Beach, Florida. Winds near 50 mph #FLwx #Bertha pic.twitter.com/3nud4XCAxj
— Chris Weather Chasing (@ChistianChevres) July 21, 2026
I know Tropical Storm Bertha looks unhealthy for sure, but we’re getting some good gusts and squalls here in Pensacola Beach this morning. Strong winds and dangerous surf will be our main issue thru the morning. @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/ff8BaX07aj
— Chris Bruin (@ChrisBruinTV) July 22, 2026
Although Bertha has reached the Louisiana coast, the storm remains highly asymmetric, with its strongest thunderstorms displaced well south and east of the circulation over the Gulf of Mexico rather than wrapped around its center.
Meteorologists say strong vertical wind shear continues to dominate the storm’s structure.
Vertical wind shear describes changes in wind speed or direction with height in the atmosphere. Tropical cyclones require relatively light winds from the surface through the upper atmosphere to maintain an upright circulation. Strong upper-level winds tilt the storm, displace its thunderstorms away from the center and interrupt the upward transport of heat and moisture that fuels intensification.
Hurricane Hunter aircraft have even indicated Bertha’s original low-level circulation may be weakening, with forecasters monitoring whether a new center of circulation could develop beneath the deepest thunderstorms over the Gulf. Even if that occurs, persistent wind shear is expected to prevent significant strengthening before the storm reaches the Texas coast near Galveston on Thursday afternoon.
Strongest impacts remain near the Gulf Coast
Unlike a typical Gulf tropical storm, Bertha’s heaviest rainfall has largely remained offshore.
The strongest bands of thunderstorms continue over the Gulf of Mexico, leaving much of inland southeast Louisiana with relatively limited rainfall. Instead, the primary hazards have been tropical-storm-force winds, rough surf, storm surge and minor coastal flooding.
Storm surge of 1 to 3 feet (0.3 to 0.9 m) remains possible along portions of the Louisiana, Mississippi and upper Texas coasts, especially around high tide.
Water was already pushing into low-lying communities including Venetian Isles and Shell Beach in St. Bernard Parish Wednesday, where streets experienced minor flooding outside the parish’s levee protection system. Local officials closed floodgates, staged high-water rescue vehicles and urged residents to move boats and vehicles to higher ground.
Farther east, Hancock County, Mississippi, reported only minor impacts Wednesday afternoon despite continued concerns over coastal flooding in vulnerable communities south of Interstate 10.
The storm is forecast to continue brushing the Louisiana coastline before approaching southeast Texas late Thursday. The heaviest rainfall is expected to shift toward the central Texas coast, where 2 to 4 inches (50 to 100 mm) of rain are forecast from south of Galveston toward Corpus Christi. Rainfall totals around Houston are expected to remain below 1 inch (25 mm).
Wind shear is also fueling dangerous heat
The same atmospheric pattern disrupting Bertha has created another unusual weather contrast across the Deep South.
Normally, tropical storms spread widespread cloud cover across hundreds of miles, limiting daytime heating. Instead, Bertha’s displaced thunderstorms have allowed abundant sunshine to persist across much of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and eastern Texas.
More than 55 million people remain under heat advisories or extreme heat warnings, with heat index values forecast to reach 115°F (46°C) across parts of the Deep South. Meteorologists note it is highly unusual for tropical storm warnings and extreme heat warnings to overlap across the same region.
What role is El Niño playing?
Bertha’s struggle has renewed attention on the strengthening El Niño, which typically increases vertical wind shear across the Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic.
As sea surface temperatures warm across the equatorial Pacific, global atmospheric circulation changes strengthen upper-level winds over much of the Atlantic hurricane development region. Those stronger winds make it harder for tropical disturbances to organize into hurricanes.
Some hurricane specialists believe the atmospheric response to this year’s El Niño is arriving earlier than usual because of the exceptionally rapid warming occurring in the eastern Pacific.
However, researchers at Colorado State University caution that Bertha’s current wind shear is being driven primarily by a large area of high pressure over the Midwest rather than El Niño itself. Even so, forecast models continue to indicate stronger-than-normal wind shear across much of the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic during the coming weeks, supporting expectations for a quieter-than-average Atlantic hurricane season.
Beyond Bertha, the National Hurricane Center is not monitoring any additional tropical development in the Atlantic over the next seven days. Meanwhile, Hurricane Fausto continues tracking westward over the eastern Pacific and is expected to remain over open water with no immediate threat to land.
