Beryl enters hot Gulf of Mexico, forecast to hit Texas as hurricane

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel
Updated ·2 min read
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Tropical Storm Beryl entered the heated waters of the Gulf of Mexico where it’s forecast to grow over the weekend back into a hurricane before striking the Texas coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, the center of Beryl was located about 330 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph moving northwest at 13 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend out 125 miles.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the Texas coast from Baffin Bay to Sargent with a hurricane watch on the Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande River north to Baffin Bay and from Sargent north to San Luis Pass as well as in Mexico from Barra el Mezquital north to the mouth of the Rio Grande.

A storm surge warning is in effect from the north entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore to High Island including Corpus Christi Bay, Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay.

“On the forecast track, the center of Beryl will approach the Texas coast on Sunday and Sunday night and then make landfall on the Texas coast on Monday,” said National Hurricane Center senior specialist Jack Beven. “Strengthening is expected, and Beryl is forecast to become a hurricane again Sunday or Sunday night before it reaches the Texas coast.”

With Gulf surface temperatures in the high 80s and lower wind shear on Sunday, the NHC warned the rate of intensification was likely to increase in the final 24 hours before landfall, and it forecasts Beryl to be a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 90 mph and gusts up to 115 mph.

Storm surge from 3-5 feet is expected along parts of the Texas coast, which already last month endured damage from surge created by Tropical Storm Alberto.

Also, from 5 to 10 inches with some areas getting up to 15 inches of rain are forecast for portions of the Texas Gulf Coast and eastern Texas beginning late Sunday through midweek that could cause flash and urban flooding.

The storm’s churn in the Gulf is also producing dangerous coastal waves all the way to Florida’s panhandle with swells that could cause life-threatening
surf and rip current conditions. Three men visiting Florida last month died in rip current effects in the wake of Alberto.