Tropical Storm Arthur formed just off the coast of Texas on Wednesday, and meteorologists warned that it was expected to douse the Gulf Coast region with heavy rain throughout the week.
A flood watch stretched along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Georgia on Wednesday as forecasters warned that the storm system, which has been churning along the coastline for days, could drop up to a foot of rain by the end of the week.
Arthur is the first named storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which the National Hurricane Center said last month could be quieter than usual. The storm organized quickly over a couple of hours early Wednesday morning, and a hurricane hunters sent into the storm found that its winds had reached tropical storm-force, though they will remain mostly offshore.
Forecasters said in a late-morning update that they don’t expect Arthur to strengthen further before it moves inland later Wednesday and quickly falls apart. The remnants could emerge over the Atlantic later this week and reform, but there is significant uncertainty about that.
But forecasters are certain that flooding rains will continue across the Southeast this week, with widespread rainfall totals reaching up to 5 to 10 inches across the region and in some places nearly 20 inches through early Friday from the the Texas coast all the way through Georgia.
Parts of Texas have already been inundated with heavy rain and flash flood warnings. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas issued a disaster declaration on Monday evening for 101 counties in the state, citing the risk from the storms and possible flooding. A deluge of rain has fallen far inland since Sunday, bringing over nine inches in Caldwell, Texas, and from three to four inches in Austin, San Antonio and Houston.
On Wednesday, Houston is set to host its second World Cup match, between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The threat of heavy rain was not a cause of concern for the match at the covered NRG Stadium, temporarily renamed Houston Stadium for the tournament.
But ahead of the match, organizers shortened hours for the city’s fan festival, where many have been gathering to watch matches. The city’s World Cup organizing committee said that the festival would open in the evening on Tuesday instead of earlier in the day. The shortened festivities on Tuesday could change further if severe weather made it unsafe for fans in the evening, organizers said. The fan festival was closed on Monday as heavy rain made its way through the area.
Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County, the top elected official in the Houston area, said that the county’s office of homeland security and emergency management was monitoring the threat of flooding.
“As those of us who live here know, Houston in the summer naturally brings tropical weather,” Judge Hidalgo said. “Our streets are designed to flood to convey water to the channels that then empty out into the ocean.”
Forecasters are fairly confident this will become a named storm but say it is likely to never look like a pure tropical storm on satellite. The storm is encountering something called wind shear, which can shred the storm and keep it from becoming an intense hurricane.
While forecasters believe this may develop tropical-storm-force winds (39 miles per hour or more), they have little indication to believe it will get stronger.
As the storm meanders off the Texas and Louisiana coasts over the next day or two, the rain will remain the most concerning threat. This has prompted meteorologists with the Weather Prediction Center to highlight the potential for flash flooding over the next few days from Corpus Christi, Texas, all the way into Birmingham, Ala.
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