Weather
Texas coast braces for first Hurricane since 2005
The Texas coast will continue to brace for its first hurricane strike since September 2008, when Category 2 Hurricane Ike battered Galveston and environs and caused nearly $35 billion (CPI-adjusted dollars) in damage, according to NOAA. In addition, still-strengthening Harvey could become the first major hurricane (Category 3; sustained winds greater than 110 mph) to strike the U.S. since October 2005, when Wilma crossed southern Florida. Due to the expectation that Harvey will slow or stall after making landfall late Friday or early Saturday, storm-total rainfall of 15 to 25 inches (with isolated totals near 35 inches) could cause potentially catastrophic flooding in a broad area of the western Gulf Coast region. Other hurricane-related hazards could include a 6- to 12-foot storm surge along the middle and lower Texas coast; severe wind damage in the eyewall; battering waves; and isolated tornadoes. Elsewhere, the only other organized area of significant rainfall should be confined to southern Florida, where 5-day rainfall totals could reach 2 to 6 inches. Some 1- to 2-inch totals may occur in parts of the Midwest, Ohio Valley, mid-South, and Southwest, while hot, mostly dry weather should cover the Far West and the drought-affected northern High Plains. In contrast, below-normal temperatures can be expected across much of the South, East, and Midwest.
Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook calls for above-normal temperatures across Florida’s peninsula, the northern High Plains, and the West, while cooler-than-normal conditions should cover much of the South and lower Midwest. Meanwhile, below-normal rainfall across the Plains and Northwest will contrast with wetter-than-normal weather in much of the South and East, as well as parts of the Desert Southwest.
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