Path tracker: Tropical Storm Bertha forms in the Gulf 30%

By Gabe Hauari0% James Powel0% USA TODAY12%

7/20/2026, 1:03:14 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 9 faulty reasoning types, including Pessimism Bias, Negativity Bias, and Overconfidence Bias, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 56.3% saturation with 152 hits. Analysis detected 453 faulty-reasoning hits from 270 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 40.1% and a BS Rank of 30% (14,092 of 19,908 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 70.80% of the article peer group.

A tropical depression that formed in the Gulf has now strengthened into Tropical Storm Bertha, according to the National Hurricane Center. 
A NHC advisory issued the evening of July 20 stated that Bertha is located about 110 miles south of Panama City, Florida with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour. 
It added that "additional strengthening is possible." 
A tropical storm watch is in effect for a large chunk of the Gulf Coast, from the Ochlockonee River west to the Mississippi/Alabama border, according to the hurricane center. 
A tropical storm watch means tropical storm conditions are possible in the next 24 to 48 hours. 
The Center said that Bertha has been "drifting erratically" but the storm is expected to move to the northwest and west. 
"On the forecast track, Bertha will move near or along the northern Gulf coast during the next several days," the advisory reads. 
The NHC said the system is expected to produce rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches, with locally higher totals around 8 inches, through Friday along the Gulf Coast and adjacent inland locations from western Florida to the Middle Texas coast, including southern portions of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. 
The rainfall may produce flash flooding, especially in urban areas. 
Swells generated by the system are also expected to affect portions of the Gulf coast of Florida and are likely to spread westward during the week, the NHC said, with the swells likely to cause "life-threatening" surf and rip current conditions. 
**Canadian wildfires:** These cities are under code purple, maroon for bad air quality 
Confirmation Bias
0%
Anchoring Bias
0%
Availability Heuristic
12.6%
Representativeness Heuristic
0%
Hindsight Bias
0%
Overconfidence Bias
18.1%
Framing Effect
0%
Loss Aversion
0%
Status Quo Bias
0%
Sunk Cost Effect
0%
Optimism Bias
0%
Pessimism Bias
23%
Negativity Bias
18.9%
Self-Serving Bias
0%
Fundamental Attribution Error
0%
Actor-Observer Bias
0%
In-Group Bias
0%
Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
0%
Halo Effect
0%
Horn Effect
0%
Dunning-Kruger Effect
0%
Recency Bias
0%
Primacy Effect
0%
Blind-Spot Bias
0%
Ad Hominem
0%
Straw Man
0%
Appeal to Authority
56.3%
False Dilemma
0%
Slippery Slope
0%
Circular Reasoning
0%
Hasty Generalization
0%
Red Herring
4.8%
Bandwagon
0%
Appeal to Emotion
15.2%
Begging the Question
0%
Post Hoc (False Cause)
0%
Tu Quoque
0%
Burden of Proof
0%
Appeal to Nature
0%
Composition/Division
0%
Anecdotal
0%
No True Scotsman
0%
Ambiguity (Equivocation)
14.1%
Gambler’s Fallacy
0%
Middle Ground
0%
Personal Incredulity
0%
Special Pleading
0%
Genetic Fallacy
0%
Unattributed Quote
0%
Quote-first Misdirection
0%
Biased Writer Voice
4.8%
Indoctrination
0%
Politically Left Leaning Bias
0%
Politically Right Leaning Bias
0%
Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
0%

270 words analyzed.

Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.