About 7 million people in South Texas live in the area where Hurricane Beryl is expected to hit early next week, putting them at risk of heavy rain, dangerous rip currents and strong winds.
“If I lived in Texas, and I’ve ever lived in Texas, this would be a storm I would watch closely,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwin. “We could see some impacts Sunday into Monday.”
There is an increased risk of strong winds, storm surge and heavy rainfall in South Texas later this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Beryl could also cause life-threatening coastal conditions along much of the Gulf Coast Friday night into the weekend.
After reaching its peak strength on Tuesday morning, Beryl has weakened somewhat but is still very powerful, aiming directly at Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
But because the waters in the Caribbean are so warm, it could quickly regenerate, adding to the great uncertainty about Beryl’s strength as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula.
Beryl will almost certainly move across the Yucatan Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico, at which point its forward speed will slow as high pressure to the north moves away.
Its future path will depend on Beryl’s strength, how far north it is, how quickly it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, and the exact location of the high pressure system blocking it to the north.
The Fox Forecast Center said Beryl’s path will likely curve north into the Gulf of Mexico, but it’s unclear how far the curve will go.
The National Hurricane Center is predicting a tropical storm or weak hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, but cautions that its strength is highly uncertain.
“Sometimes a tropical storm can turn into a Category 1 hurricane at the last moment, but the impact remains the same,” Merwin said.
The impacts will likely be rain, Merwin added. South Texas, including Brownsville and Port Mansfield, are at risk of flooding at Level 2 out of 4 from Sunday through early Monday. Beryl’s forecast area includes those two cities as well as Corpus Christi.
As such, anyone living in or visiting South Texas should prepare for tropical storm-force weather across the region.
