A broad area of low pressure designated Invest 93L is approaching the Louisiana coastline after skirting the northern Gulf of Mexico for several days. The National Hurricane Center on Thursday cut the system’s odds of forming a tropical depression to 30 percent, noting that the centre remains poorly defined and most thunderstorms are displaced to the west and southwest. Forecasters say the disturbance will move onshore in southern Louisiana later today, ending the brief window for any further tropical development before it drifts inland across the lower Mississippi Valley. Although organisation is limited, the system is laden with deep tropical moisture and is expected to unload significant rainfall. The Weather Prediction Center has issued a moderate, level-three flash-flood risk for south-central Louisiana, while Flood Watches cover much of the state’s coast and neighbouring Mississippi. Meteorologists project widespread totals of 4–8 inches, with pockets of 8–12 inches and a potential StormMax of 16 inches. New Orleans could see 3–5 inches, with higher amounts near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Isolated waterspouts or brief tornadoes cannot be ruled out along the immediate coast. Local governments from New Orleans to Lafayette opened sand-bagging sites on Wednesday, and emergency managers urged residents in low-lying areas to prepare for rapid rises in water. Farther east, Pensacola recorded more than 1.5 inches of rain as the disturbance passed, while rip-current risks and intermittent squalls persist along the Florida Panhandle. Depending on how the remnant circulation steers, downpours could extend west toward Houston or north into the Mississippi Delta on Friday. The slow-moving rainmaker arrives as large parts of the eastern United States brace for a separate heat wave forecast to expand next week, underscoring the range of weather hazards confronting the region in the second half of July.