Hurricane Fausto’s maximum sustained winds eased to 70 mph over the past 24 hours, the National Hurricane Center reports, a pullback from the 75 mph peak recorded a day earlier. The National Weather Service’s active alert count for the storm also fell sharply, dropping to 18 from 41, as the warned zone contracted and shifted westward from Louisiana and Alabama to Louisiana and Texas.
The geographic shift is the most notable overnight change. Marine warnings now stretch along the Texas Gulf coast from Freeport to the Matagorda Ship Channel and into Galveston Bay, alongside continued coverage of Louisiana’s coastal waters from Terrebonne Bay to Port Fourchon and the Lower Atchafalaya River. Alabama, part of yesterday’s warned area, no longer appears among the affected states.
The National Weather Service reports south winds of 25 to 35 knots with gusts up to 45 knots across the Texas waters, producing seas of 5 to 9 feet. Conditions are more severe off Louisiana, where southwest winds of 25 to 35 knots with gusts to 45 knots are generating seas of 8 to 13 feet in zones including West Cameron, Lower Vermilion, Lower Iberia, Lower St. Mary and Lower Jefferson. Tropical storm-force winds are expected to persist into the evening in the hardest-hit Louisiana waters, per the National Weather Service.
The agency’s guidance to mariners is unchanged and direct: alter plans to avoid the hazardous conditions, remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter course, or secure vessels against the wind and seas. Officials have not indicated the warnings will lift before nightfall.
The other overnight development is the emergence of a second system. The National Hurricane Center is now tracking Tropical Storm Bertha, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, adding a new storm to the Atlantic basin’s active list alongside Fausto. The hurricane center has not yet detailed a track or intensity forecast for Bertha in the data reviewed here.
Fausto’s weakening trend — down five mph from Tuesday’s reading — comes after the storm nearly tripled its alert footprint earlier in the week before leveling off. Coastal residents and boaters from Houston to southern Louisiana should continue monitoring official guidance, as marine conditions remain hazardous even as the storm’s core winds ease. The National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center are expected to issue updated figures as Fausto’s track develops through the day.