Tropical Storm Beryl expected to regain hurricane strength before Texas landfall
Tropical Storm Beryl entered the heated waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where it’s forecast to grow a hurricane before striking the Texas coast on Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As of 11 a.m on Sunday, the center of Beryl is located 195 miles south-southeast Matagorda, Texas, and 195 miles southeast of Corpus Cristi, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph moving northwest at 12 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend out 125 miles.
A hurricane warning remains 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 remains in effect from the north entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore to High Island, including Corpus Christi Bay, Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay.
“A turn toward the north-northwest is expected tonight, with a turn toward the north on Monday,” the NHC said. “On the forecast track, the center of Beryl is expected to make landfall on the Texas coast Monday morning.”
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 of rain, with some areas getting up to 15 inches, 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.
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