Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say that a Wednesday morning overflight again observed patches of emulsified oil to the west of the Mississippi Delta.
While ocean current models and floating buoys suggest weakly upcoast (eastward) currents to the west of the Delta have been keeping this oil from moving much further westward, persistent winds from the southeast and stronger westward currents may develop through Saturday and so there is potential for shoreline contacts west to Atchafalaya Bay within the 72-hour forecast period.
NOAA using wind and other forecast information from the National Weather Service, overflight information and data, satellite and other imagery, tracking buoys and other information to make its spill trajectory forecasts predicting where oil from the BP/Deepwater Horizon spill site will travel along the Gulf of Mexico.
Winds are forecast to be from the southeast through Saturday, with speeds of10-15 knots.
via Latest Gulf oil spill forecast: Further penetration into Louisiana through Saturday | al.com.
