There's some good news to share about the weather this weekend, and there's bad news too. The bad news, there is a tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico - Tropical Storm Karen heading toward the Louisiana coastline. The good news is it could be a lot worse. Landfall could occur in Louisiana, but Acadiana appears to be mostly in the clear - for now.

Forecasters are beginning to zero in an accurate track and intensity predictions for the system. Right now, the best guess for Karen is the first of two landfalls to occur in extreme Southeast Louisiana near the mouth of the Mississippi River late Saturday night or early Sunday Morning.

A second landfall for Karen should come 6 to 12 hours later either in Mississippi, Alabama or Florida. The current forecast models are still in somewhat of a disagreement on the actual path of the storm. With some models suggesting a landfall as far west as Vermilion Bay while others have the storm landing as far east as Panama City Beach Florida. How the system handles an influx of dry air and high wind shear will determine the actual path the storm takes. The storm should make landfall as a minimal hurricane or a very strong tropical storm. You can get the latest information on Tropical Storm Karen by visiting the NOAA website.

How will Karen affect Acadiana's weather? You will probably notice the day Saturday to be a bit more breezy than usual. Since a lot of heavy thunderstorms and rain squalls associated with Karen are on the eastern side of the storm we can expect minimal influence on our local weather forecast. Then, a cold front which is helping to steer Karen to the east of Acadiana will move through late in the day on Saturday. Then you will notice how cool and comfortable the temperatures are by mid-evening.

While forecasters are very confident in their current track for the storm it is still a good idea to check in with us here at 97.3 The Dawg for the latest updates. We will bring you the very latest information from our weather partners at KATC TV 3 until the storm has passed and we are all out of harms way.

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