A month after record rains inundated Texas, a tropical storm looks poised to collide with the state.
The National Hurricane Center gives the tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico a 90 percent chance of becoming Tropical Storm Bill. This would be the first named storm since hurricane season began June 1 (Tropical Storm Ana formed and fizzled out before the season started, in early May).
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The United States hasn’t endured a major hurricane (category 3 or greater) in a decade. Atlantic hurricanes have mainly taken aim at Central America and Mexico in recent years with Sandy (2012) and Ike (2008) as the most notable exceptions, but tropical storms can still pack a punch that ought to be taken seriously.
The winds don’t provide much of a threat, but the flooding can be worse if the system sits on top of an area instead of swiftly moving through Texas. The worst Houston floods in the past 50 years both came as a result of tropical storms: Allison in 2001 and Claudette in 1979. Allison is the only non-hurricane strength storm to have its name retired. Claudette broke national records by dropping 40-plus inches on Alvin in a day.
Current projections see the not-yet-formed Bill leaving three to six inches in the Houston area, less than what fell on Memorial Day. A flood watch is in effect from Monday night until Wednesday evening, but it’s still far too early to predict what this storm might do Houston Chronicle science writer Eric Berger noted in a chat this afternoon:
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“Potentially this could be very serious, especially if storm cells set up over Houston as the storm moves inland and then slowly rotates to the north. I could see Houston getting a lot of rain in such a scenario. But it's also possible we'll miss the heaviest rain and also get a couple of inches. I'd like to highlight the potential for really bad flooding, but also don't want people to think it's a sure thing.”
See the worst tropical storms to hit East Texas since Claudette in the gallery above.
