Lafayette County residents may want to secure their outdoor Halloween decorations and get out the galoshes as the remnants of Hurricane Delta are expected to bring about 3 inches of rain over the next couple of days.
Hurricane Delta, now a Category 2 storm, has strengthened slightly this morning as it continues to move into the central Gulf, according to Lafayette County Emergency Management Director Steve Quarles. The storm is forecast to slightly intensify over the open waters before making landfall along the Louisiana coast late Friday.
“If Delta slows further, that could increase rainfall totals further,” Quarles said Thursday morning.
The storm will weaken to a tropical depression as it heads toward the Mid-South. The majority of the rain will fall locally on Saturday and the storm is expected to weaken to a post-tropical depression Saturday evening.
However, the outer bands are expected to bring rain to Lafayette County on Friday afternoon.
“These bands will likely contain gusty winds and quick bursts of rainfall throughout the day on Friday,” Quarles said.
Rain will become more widespread Friday night and substantially on Saturday, with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Rainfall totals through early Sunday morning will range from 2-4 inches with locally high amounts over north Mississippi.
A couple of tropical cyclone tornadoes are also possible over northeast Mississippi Saturday.
The storm has caused the kick-off for the Ole Miss Rebels home game against Alabama to be pushed from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Delta is the seventh named storm and fourth hurricane forecast to hit the Gulf Coast this year and the 25th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30, according to the National Weather Service.
