Katia regains hurricane strength over Atlantic

Katia regained hurricane status on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the storm is now on a north-northwesterly path over the open Atlantic, with winds of 75 miles per hour. Katia had been downgraded to a tropical storm earlier in the week, but now has a chance of reaching major-hurricane status by Wednesday.

The NHC's five-day course projection shows Katia avoiding landfall in the Caribbean, but its path could take it near the U.S. east coast.
As of 11 a.m. eastern on Friday, the storm was around 700 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands

Meanwhile, the U.S. Gulf coast braced for tropical storm Lee, which was upgraded from a tropical depression on Friday afternoon.

NHC spokesperson Dennis Feltgen told USA Today that Lee will bring lots of rain.

The hurricane center forecasts that more than 15 inches of rain will fall over parts of southeastern Louisiana today through Tuesday. Tropical storm warnings were posted from Mississippi to Texas, including New Orleans.

Meteorologist Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground told the paper that between Friday and Saturday coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the extreme western Panhandle of Florida would likely receive heavy rains and possible flooding. 

On Thursday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency over the threat of flash flooding.

"It's not just the rainfall, but perhaps days of pressure on levees, as storm-surge water could be driven into Lake Pontchartrain if a tropical storm or hurricane hangs out over the north-central Gulf of Mexico," AccuWeather meteorologist Mark Mancuso told USA today.

On the other hand, Texas could use some rain. A report issued on Thursday showed more than four-fifths of the state in the worst drought stage, the state's worst drought since the 1950s. High temperatures and low rains have created optimal conditions for wildfires.