TROPICAL DEPRESSION 5

In the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical depression Five took shape last night, and is moving northwest toward the Southeast Texas Coast.

Conditions appear favorable for this to become a tropical storm either later today or tonight, in which case it would be called Erin.

The current forecast track will bring this system into the southern Texas Coast later Thursday, but the impacts will be felt along all of the Texas Coast, from Brownsville, through Corpus Christi and Houston, to Lake Charles, LA.

In fact, some showers and thunderstorms well out ahead of the depression, are already on the increase along the Texas Coast this morning.

 

In the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical depression Five took shape last night, and has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Erin at 10 am CT moving northwest toward the southeastern Texas Coast.

Conditions appear favorable for Tropical Storm Erin to be a flooding rain threat into Friday night.

The current forecast track brings this system into the southern Texas Coast on Thursday, but the impacts will be felt along all of the Texas Coast, from Brownsville, through Corpus Christi and Houston, to Lake Charles, LA.

In fact, some showers and thunderstorms well out ahead of Erin, are already on the increase along the Texas Coast and will increase dramatically tonight into Thursday.

Through Thursday evening heavy showers and thunderstorms will bring heavy rainfall of 3 to 5 inches over South Texas, including areas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi, with as much as 2 to 4 inches from Houston to Lake Charles.

Gusty winds will also be on the increase, along with rough surf, especially along the southern Texas Coast. That being said, wind impacts will likely be far less compared to the heavy rain impact.

As of 1 a.m. CDT (2:00 a.m. EDT) Thursday, Tropical Storm Erin was about 110 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas.

The storm has maximum sustained surface winds of 40 mph with higher gusts. Erin was located near 26.4 north, 96.1 west.

The storm is moving to the west-northwest at 12 mph. AccuWeather expects the storm to intensify some before making landfall near Corpus Christi around or shortly after daybreak on Thursday.

However, the storm will not become a hurricane.

The latest estimated surface pressure is 1004 millibars or 29.65 inches.

 

The radar image is pretty impressive!

Erin made landfall early Thursday morning near Rockport, Texas. No longer anything more than a remnant low, it is located as of 11 p.m EDT northwest of San Antonio approximately over Bandera County.

 

The remnant low from Erin is still producing localized heavy rain, mainly north and northwest of the center, as it continues to slowly move northwest at less than 10 mph. AccuWeather expects the low that used to be Erin to produce areas of heavy rainfall, causing flooding through Friday over portions of central and western Texas. Total rainfall amounts of 2 to 6 inches will continue to accompany the low as it moves northwest.

Lingering, rich moisture over East and South Texas on Friday, along with the heating of the day, will support additional showers and thunderstorms on Friday with some of that rain being heavy and also bringing local flooding problems.

HOUSTON — Recovery efforts were in full swing early Friday as water-logged Texas dealt with the rainy remnants of Tropical Storm Erin, which authorities said could be a prelude to Hurricane Dean as it gathered strength in the Atlantic.

At least seven people died Thursday in Erin's thunderstorms, which dropped up to 10 inches of rain in parts of San Antonio and Houston. Officials throughout central and southern Texas braced for the possibility of more rain Friday morning. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service forecasts up to 7 inches of rain in West Texas on Friday.

"The ground's already saturated, then with the amount of rain we got today it's just running off and causing flash flooding, so if we get additional rain it will be a major concern for us," said Orlando Hernandez, emergency management coordinator for Bexar County, where San Antonio is located.

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