It’s been a quiet hurricane season … until now.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a storm that could rival the intensity of Hurricane Katrina is churning in the Gulf of Mexico … drawing a bead on the coast of the Lone Star State.
Largely ignored after it dissipated four days ago in the warm waters north of Colombia and Venezuela, Tropical Storm (soon-to-be Hurricane) Harvey is back with a vengeance – and threatening to deliver a lethal blow to the coast of Texas this weekend.
As of this writing, Harvey doesn’t sound all that menacing. Its maximum sustained winds are “only” 64 miles per hour, and storm-force winds extend only ninety miles from its center of circulation.
Hell, the system only re-formed as a tropical depression yesterday.
But Harvey is gaining strength … rapidly. And as it strengthens, surrounding weather patterns have the potential to exacerbate its looming impact on the Lone Star State.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida noted, referencing a broad swath of warnings issued along the Texas coast. “Persons located within these areas should take all necessary actions to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for other dangerous conditions.”
Our new friends over at the “Tropical Tidbits” Facebook page concur …
“Harvey is expected to slow down markedly at the time of landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas late Friday night, resulting in excessive rainfall totals and dangerous inland flooding,” the site noted. “Heed instructions from your local officials and start executing your hurricane plan if you live in the warning area.”
Here’s the latest NHC forecast window for the storm …
(Click to view)
(Via: NOAA)
Meanwhile here is the storm’s latest projected forecast track, which shows it approaching the Texas coast as a major hurricane tomorrow evening and then doing an inland “loop” near the Houston area over the weekend.
(Click to view)
(Via: NOAA)
Incredible, isn’t it?
Something that wasn’t even on the radar (literally) forty-eight hours ago could conceivably become one of the most devastating storms in American history.
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