Beryl enters hot Gulf of Mexico, forecast to hit Texas as hurricane
ORLANDO, Fla. – 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 2 p.m. Saturday, the center of Beryl was located about 360 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph moving west-northwest at 12 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend out 115 miles.
A hurricane watch is in effect for the Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande river north to San Luis Pass and the northeastern coast of mainland Mexico from the Rio Grande south to Barra el Mezquital.
A storm surge watch is in effect for Texas from the Rio Grande to High Island.
“On the forecast track, the center of Beryl is expected to approach the Texas coast by late Sunday into Monday morning,” National Hurricane Center senior specialist Jack Beven said. “Little change in strength is expected today, but strengthening is expected to begin by Sunday, and Beryl is forecast to become a hurricane 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.
The NHC’s cone of error spreads 60 miles, with a range covering from Brownsville in the south up to Galveston.
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 the Florida 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.