‘Dirty side’ of tropical system could hit the Mississippi Coast. Here’s why that’s bad
A tropical storm is expected to make landfall this weekend along the Gulf Coast, and Mississippi could be on its “dirty side.”
The right side of a storm — sometimes called its “dirty side” or “bad side” — is often considered the more dangerous place to be. That’s because the direction of winds make conditions worse on that side, forecasters said.
The right side is in relation to the way the storm is heading. So if a tropical system is heading north, you would expect the right side to be to the east, according to the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration.
That’s the case with Potential Tropical Cyclone Three, which was moving north in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday afternoon. The system is forecast to become Tropical Storm Claudette later in the day.
Overnight, forecasters said the tropical storm could make landfall in southern Louisiana.
That would put the Mississippi Coast east of the storm and potentially at more risk.
As a tropical system moves forward, winds also move counterclockwise around its center, according to experts.
On the dirty side, the storm’s strength is “wind speed plus its forward velocity,” the Miami Herald reported. But on the other side, winds are slower after subtracting “wind velocity from the forward velocity,” according to the NOAA website.
“For example, a hurricane with 90 mph winds moving at 10 mph would have a 100 mph wind speed on the right (forward-moving) side and 80 mph on the side with the backward motion,” forecasters said.
As of Friday afternoon, Potential Tropical Cyclone Three was 165 miles south of Morgan City, Louisiana, and moving at 14 mph. It had 45-mph sustained winds.
Tropical storms are systems with 39- to 73-mph sustained winds and defined centers.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for areas from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle as parts of the region could see heavy rain and flooding.
This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 10:01 AM.
