Beta Will Bring Rain to West Tennessee This Week
Weather Update – 11:00 p.m. – Monday, September 21st
It seems that the cooler-than-average weather will continue for now making for a seamless transition for Fall tomorrow in West Tennessee. Tropical Storm Beta is right on the Texas coast bringing showers to several states in the south. Beta will continue to push northeast bringing rain to West Tennessee for a few days on the 7-Day forecast.
TONIGHT
Skies will start out mostly clear but will likely end up cloudy by sunrise tomorrow morning. Moisture from Tropical Storm Beta is going to filter through the upper atmosphere to bring us some scattered showers tomorrow. Temperatures will nonetheless still drop to the lower and middle 50s at the coolest point of the last night of Summer.
Expect partly to mostly cloudy skies tomorrow with a chance for scattered showers throughout the day. Temperatures will only peak in the middle 70s as a result, so expect another October-like day for the first day of Fall! More rain is possible through midweek. Stay tuned to WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News for the latest forecast rainfall totals, and for more updates keep up with Storm Team Weather online too.
Tom Meiners
Storm Team 7 Chief Meteorologist, CBM
Twitter – @WBBJ7TomMeiners
Facebook – http://facebook.com/WBBJ.tom.meiners
Email – tmeiners@wbbjtv.com
TROPICAL UPDATE – 7:00 p.m.
From the National Hurricane Center –
At 10:00 PM, the center of Tropical Storm Beta was located near latitude 28.4 North, longitude 96.3 West. Beta is moving toward the northwest near 3 mph, and this general motion is forecast to continue tonight. A slow north and northeast motion are expected on Tuesday, and a faster east-northeastward motion should begin Tuesday night and continue Wednesday. On the forecast track, the center of Beta will move inland overnight. Beta is forecast to remain near or just offshore the coast of southeastern Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Data from an Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast before Beta reaches the Texas coast. Weakening is anticipated on Tuesday as Beta moves just inland along the Texas coast. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles from the center. A WeatherFlow observing site at Matagorda Bay, Texas, has reported sustained winds of 41 mph with a gust to 53 mph this evening. The estimated minimum central pressure is 999 mb.
HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
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STORM SURGE: The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide…
Port Aransas, TX to Sabine Pass, TX including Copano Bay, Aransas Bay, San Antonio Bay, Matagorda Bay, and Galveston Bay…2-4 ft
Sabine Pass, TX to Ocean Springs, MS including Sabine Lake, Lake Calcasieu, Vermilion Bay, Lake Borgne, Lake Pontchartrain, and Lake Maurepas…1-3 ft
Baffin Bay, TX to Port Aransas, TX including Corpus Christi Bay and Baffin Bay… 1-3 ft
Mouth of the Rio Grande to Baffin Bay, TX…1-2 ft
The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast in areas of onshore winds, where the surge will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves. Surge-related flooding depends on the relative timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and can vary greatly over short distances. For information specific to your area, please see products issued by your local National Weather Service forecast office.
WIND: Tropical storm conditions are expected to begin later this morning in portions of the tropical storm warning area. Tropical storm conditions are possible within the tropical storm watch area later today.
RAINFALL: Through Friday, Beta is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches with isolated totals of 15 inches from the middle Texas coast to southeast Louisiana. Rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches are expected northward into the ArkLaTex region and east into the Lower Mississippi Valley through the end of the week. Flash and urban flooding is likely, as well as isolated minor river flooding.
TORNADOES: A tornado or two could occur today and tonight, near the middle to upper Texas coast or the southwestern Louisiana coast.
SURF: Swells generated by a combination of Beta and a cold front over the northern Gulf of Mexico will continue along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas during the next couple of days. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
