Tropical Storm Shifting to North; Corpus Christi Landfall Expected
By Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas
Aug. 16–Tropical Storm Erin will deal only a glancing blow to Deep South Texas with its storm track shifting to north, aiming for landfall near Corpus Christi early today.
The National Hurricane Center’s 10 p.m. Wednesday report put Erin at 26.5 north latitude, 95.7 degrees west longitude, about 140 miles southeast of Corpus Christi and 200 miles south-southeast of Galveston.
Erin was moving erratically to the west-northwest at about 14 mph, a motion that the National Hurricane Center expected to continue through tonight, according to the advisory.
Erin’s maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 85 miles, according to the hurricane center’s report
Weather reconnaissance planes reported Wednesday night that Erin could intensify slightly as it neared the coast.
The storm’s center is forecast to reach the coast near Corpus Christi around 6 a.m. today.
Heavy showers are expected for middle Texas coast, with amounts ranging from 3 to 5 inches, and tornadoes possible.
As the storm moves inland, the areas around Victoria and into the Hill Country near San Antonio could expect twice that much rainfall, and perhaps as much as 12 inches in places, according to the weather service.
This area is already saturated from heavy rain storms in July, and many lakes and rivers are near flood stage.
Erin spent most of Wednesday shifting away from the Rio Grande Valley.
Even so, the Valley will likely remain under tropical storm and small craft warnings throughout today and tonight, and will feel the effects of the storm system through Saturday.
“We’ll be on the very outer fringes of the rain band,” meteorologist Jason Straub at the National Weather Service office in Brownsville said. “The rain will be on and off. You’ll have a band go through and then a clearing and then another band.”
This pattern will persist today and Friday, and tapper off on Saturday.
Thursday’s high temperatures will be in the upper 80s and lows in around 80 degrees.
Slightly warmer temperatures, in the low 90s, are forecast for Friday, with low temperatures in the upper 70s. On Saturday, the highs will reach into the mid-90s; lows in the upper 70s.
Beachgoers and boaters should be aware of increased wave heights over the next 48 hours until Erin makes landfall. This will also cause rip currents, Staub said.
After soaking the southern and central parts of Texas, Erin is forecast to move into West Texas on Saturday and dissipate.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas
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