Tropical Depression Twenty Two continued to grow off Mexico's Gulf coast on Friday. National Hurricane Center forecasters warned the system could soon strengthen into Tropical Storm Beta and possibly achieve hurricane strength by Sunday.
"The depression is moving toward the north-northeast near 7 mph, and this general motion is expected through early Saturday," the NHC advisory explained. "A slow westward motion is forecast to begin late Saturday or Saturday night, and this motion will likely continue into early next week."
"Strengthening is forecast during the next few days," forecasters warned, "and the depression is expected to become a tropical storm later today. The system could be near or at hurricane strength by Sunday.
Once the depression grows into a tropical storm, the NHC will name it Beta. Wilfred, the last name on the NHC's 2020 list of "Tropical Cyclone Names," went to a system in the eastern Atlantic that achieved tropical storm strength earlier on Friday, and the name Alpha, the first Greek name, went to a subtropical storm near the coast of Portugal.
Forecasters have not seen this level of activity since 2005. From now until Nov. 30, any systems that emerge over the Atlantic, Gulf or Caribbean waters and achieve tropical storm or hurricane strength will receive names from the Greek alphabet.
The National Weather Service in Corpus Christi tweeted on Friday afternoon: "Did you know that a Tropical Cyclone from the Greek alphabet has never made landfall in the Continental United States or its territories? The closest was Sub-Tropical Storm Alpha, which made landfall as a tropical depression across the Florida Panhandle in May of 1972!"
Our rain chances ramp up this weekend & into next week as Tropical Depression 22 approaches our coastline. Rainfall amounts of 6-8" are expected across the Coastal Bend with isolated higher amounts possible. Please note, these amounts may change depending on the track of the TD. pic.twitter.com/HaegsWCqhx
— NWS Corpus Christi (@NWSCorpus) September 18, 2020
It was not entirely clear how severely the system would impact Texas, aside from the expected higher surf, storm surge and heavy rains that would likely soak coastal communities and cities hundreds of miles from the Gulf Coast for most of next week.
The latest track on Friday afternoon estimated Beta would skirt along the Texas coastline at least as far as Houston. The NHC's rough estimate of that track did not attempt to predict where Beta would eventually make landfall, even though that forecast extended as far as Wednesday.
On Friday morning, Cameron County tweeted that residents "may experience tropical storm conditions including significant rainfall over the weekend and into early next week." County emergency managers announced residents could pick up sandbags on Saturday morning.
We’re in the heart of #HurricaneSeason. Use this animation to communicate the dangers of #StormSurge to your community. https://t.co/GyMyMruRxl pic.twitter.com/HyIOt8ov3v
— NOAA Digital Coast (@NOAADigCoast) September 17, 2020
The depression in the Gulf of Mexico emerged near the end of a historically busy week in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf regions.
Sally made a dangerously slow landfall near Gulf Shores, Ala., on Wednesday morning as a Category 2 hurricane, flooded several states throughout the southeastern U.S. and killed at least one person in Alabama.
By Thursday afternoon, the NHC had issued its final advisory on Sally -- essentially closing the books on the drama -- and officially classified it as a post-tropical depression. Sally's remnants were expected to continue flooding Georgia and the Carolinas before moving out over the Atlantic.
The NHC also monitored Teddy, which grew to a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday and threatened Bermuda.
The 2020 Atlantic #hurricane season has already generated 81 ACE (Accumulated Cyclone Energy). That's more than 29 full Atlantic hurricane seasons since 1950. ACE is integrated metric accounting for intensity and duration of tropical cyclones.https://t.co/GS9ik1a2cN pic.twitter.com/QAILyGfXev
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 18, 2020
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"danger" - Google News
September 18, 2020 at 11:43PM
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New Danger In Gulf Could Soon Grow Into Tropical Storm Beta - Texas Public Radio
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