Overview
- Bertha formed from Tropical Depression Two and was confirmed as a tropical storm on Tuesday, July 21, as it moved slowly west‑northwest across the northern Gulf of Mexico.
- The National Hurricane Center has issued tropical‑storm watches and storm‑surge watches from the Florida Panhandle west into parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, with local sea rises of about 1 to 4 feet possible.
- Forecasters at the National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center warn that a frontal system interacting with the tropical circulation will produce heavy rains, flash flooding, damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes from the Midwest into the Ohio Valley and the Northeast.
- Smoke from active wildfires in western Ontario is expected to reduce air quality across the Great Lakes and parts of the Midwest for several days, creating additional public‑health concerns.
- Operators have taken precautionary actions including Chevron temporarily halting some Gulf production and moving workers ashore, and officials urge residents and mariners to follow NHC, NWS and local guidance as forecasts and watches remain subject to change.