Harvey re-enters Gulf, rain to shift to Louisiana

New Orleans, LA (WGNO) -- Tropical Storm Harvey continued its slow, meandering path through Texas Monday and re-entered the Gulf of Mexico.

While some strengthening is possible, rapid intensification like what happened just before landfall last Friday is not likely because wind shear in the upper atmosphere has returned to the Western Gulf and will limit how strong Harvey could get before returning to land.

The forecast from the National Hurricane Center has Harvey possibly regaining winds up to 50 mph before landfall on Wednesday in far eastern Texas, just east off Houston. By that time, Harvey will be picked up by an incoming trough of low pressure and be taken north into Tennessee by the weekend.

While the center of Harvey won't be entering New Orleans, that South Louisiana region will still be on the east side of the storm, so several days of heavy rain are in store as the outer bands continue to move through.

It's possible the New Orleans area could see and additional 5" to 10" of rain by the end of the week and a flash flood watch is in effect for that region. Higher amounts are possible to its west.

In addition to the threat of flash flooding across the area, isolated tornadoes are also a threat as the rain bands move through. Already, the New Orleans area seen several tornado warnings in the outer bands and as the stronger bands of rain push in, the threat for tornadoes will increase.

Typically in a tropical system, tornadoes are quick lived but can still cause damage in the areas where they occur.

Rain chances will remain high through the week and into the early weekend as Harvey slowly exits the region.

Drier weather could return to the New Orleans area by Sunday.