No area is truly safe until the storm passes a region by. That would inherently push us to Tallahassee and points east as being "safe."

Having said that, I do not see anything that would bring this storm in any further east than toward Baton Rouge. I feel very confident in saying that areas from New Orleans eastward are safe. I feel slightly less confident for the rest of the Louisiana coastline, but I think any direct impact will be upon the western part of the state at most.

The ridge is just not budging. As alluded to last night, outflow from Max is being fed into the northern and western extent of the ridge, helping to maintain its strength. This is potentially where the GFS is failing to capture its strength from the get-go. There still isn't much to significantly erode or move the ridge in the 3-5 day time frame, though there are signs that it will begin to weaken and/or move slightly eastward. My forecast track thinking is largely unchanged from yesterday evening at this time, centered near Victoria, TX with areas from Beaumont to Corpus Christi in the main swath, though if anything I would shift it ever-so-slightly to the west given the evolution of the pattern.

Everyone from New Orleans west should still watch this one, but other than the potential flooding impacts from high waves on the far northern periphery of the storm to the city, I do not feel that there will be a direct impact from this storm anywhere from central Louisiana eastward.