Tropical Storm Alberto formed Wednesday in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. busy hurricane season.
Alberto, which will bring strong winds, heavy rain and some flooding along the Texas and Mexican coasts, is expected to make landfall in northern Mexico on Thursday.
“Heavy rain and water are, as usual, the biggest cause of tropical storms,” said Michael Brennan, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center.
Alberto was located 185 miles (about 300 kilometers) east of Tampico, Mexico, and 295 miles (about 480 kilometers) south-southeast of Brownsville, Texas. Maximum sustained winds were 40 mph (65 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A tropical storm is defined by sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph (62 to 117 km/h), and above that the system becomes a hurricane.
Brennan said wind speeds could reach 45 mph (72 kph) to 50 mph (80 kph) before the storm makes landfall.
Some areas along the Texas coast were expected to receive between 5 inches (13 cm) and 10 inches (25 cm) of rain, with even higher amounts possible in some areas, Brennan said. He said some higher places in Mexico could receive up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain, which could lead to landslides and flash floods, especially in the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.
At the Miramar Inn in Tampico, Mexico, near where Alberto was expected to disembark, front desk clerk Diana Flores said the wind was gusty but still not strong and the rain had not yet started. “There are people in the restaurant and on the beach,” Flores said early Wednesday morning.
Outer bands of rain hit parts of Tamaulipas state in northeastern Mexico overnight.
The storm was moving west at 9 mph (15 kph). Tropical storm warnings were in effect from the Texas coast near San Luis Pass south to the mouth of the Rio Grande and from the northeast coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande to Tecolutla.
“Rapid weakening is expected as the center moves inland and Alberto is likely to dissipate over Mexico,” the center said Thursday.
The National Weather Service said the main threat to south coastal Texas is flooding from heavy rainfall. The NWS said Wednesday there is a “high likelihood” of flash flooding in south coastal Texas. Tornadoes or waterspouts are possible.
NOAA predicts the hurricane season, which began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30, will likely be well above average, with 17 to 25 named storms. The forecast calls for 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
In an average Atlantic hurricane season, there are 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three of them major storms.
Brennan said the first named system in the Atlantic would average June 20, so Alberto is “about right on schedule.”
A nameless storm Earlier in June, parts of South Florida received more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain, leaving numerous motorists stranded on flooded streets and water entering some homes in low-lying areas.
Brennan said the storm will create dangerous rip currents and drivers should watch for road closures and turn around if they see the roadway covered in water.
“People underestimate the power of water and sometimes don’t always take precipitation and its associated threats seriously, especially if you’re driving through an area and you see water covering the road, you don’t want to drive into it. said Brennan. “You don’t know how deep the water is. The road may be washed away. It only takes a few inches of water to move your car.”