How Strong Will Tropical Storm Edouard Be When It Makes Landfall Today?

Small but shapely Tropical Storm Edouard is heading for landfall midday or early afternoon today near the Texas/Louisiana border. The Gulf water is in the upper 80s and the atmospheric environment is conducive for strengthening. The only question is how quickly Edouard's structure organizes so it can take advantage of the supportive conditions.

The National Hurricane Center is forecasting Edouard to come together enough so that it could strengthen pretty dramatically before it reaches the coast. Just in case the system produces gusts over 75 mph, a Hurricane Watch is in effect for the potentially affected areas.

Everybody on the Upper Texas Coast and the western half of Louisiana coast should stay updated on the latest information. Edouard has a potential to spin up quickly. The wind impacts won't be widespread, but some narrow band of coastline could be affected by damaging gusts.

The slug of Edouard’s rain moving inland could be quite heavy this afternoon into tomorrow. The biggest flood threat will be east of I-45 in Texas, with pockets of heavy rain along the Louisiana coast as well.

The storm surge threat, such that it is, will be to the right of where the center of Edouard comes ashore. But with the landfall occurring close to low tide, the storm surge threat is reduced. And if the storm doesn't crank up to a strong tropical storm, the potential storm surge is even lower.

Edouard will weaken quickly after its center moves ashore. The system will die out over East Texas.

IN THE PACIFIC

Hurricane Karina spun up to Category 4 strength in a hurry. Tropical Storms Lowell and Marie are both forecast to become strong hurricanes as well.

Confidence is now high that all of these storms will avoid Hawaii, although watch out for extra energy in the ocean waters.