Texas will get hit by a hurricane in 2020.
Friday afternoon a disturbance in the western Gulf of Mexico was given the second letter of the Greek alphabet as a name when it was upgraded to a Tropical Storm, and the winds will strengthen to hurricane force Sunday.
The Texas Gulf Coast will bear the brunt. The National Hurricane Center sent Hurricane Hunter aircraft up this morning, and this is the Saturday 7 am report:
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:
A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for...
* Port Mansfield, TX to Cameron, LA including Baffin Bay, Corpus Christi Bay, Copano Bay, Aransas Bay, San Antonio Bay, Matagorda Bay, Galveston Bay, Sabine Lake and Calcasieu Lake
A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...
* Port Aransas Texas to High Island Texas
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for...
* South of Port Aransas Texas to the Mouth of the Rio Grande
* East of High Island Texas to Morgan City Louisiana
At 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Beta was located near latitude 26.5 North, longitude 92.4 West. Beta is moving toward the north near 8 mph (13 km/h). A slow westward motion is expected to begin late today, with a slow northwestward motion forecast to begin late Sunday and continue through late Monday. On the forecast track, the center of Beta will slowly approach the Texas coast into early next week.
Maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph (95 km/h) with higher gusts. Slow strengthening is forecast, and Beta is expected to become a hurricane on Sunday.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km) from the center.
The minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is 995 mb (29.38 inches).
photo: National Weather Service