PTC 4 Heads For The Texas/Mexico border | WeatherBug
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PTC 4 Heads For The Texas/Mexico border

August 20, 2022
Updated By WeatherBug Meteorologists
Potential Tropical Cyclone #4 will move across the southwestern Gulf of Mexico before making landfall near the Texas/Mexico border this evening.
 
As of 1 p.m. CDT, Potential Tropical Cyclone #4 was located near 24.1 N and 96.9 W, or about 125 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande. The system contained maximum sustained winds of 35 mph as it moved northwest at 14 mph. Its central pressure was 1010 mb or 29.83 inches of mercury.
 
Feeding off the warm water of the southern Gulf of Mexico, the cyclone has been starting to gain a circulation around the low pressure system, one of the final steps needed to become a depression or storm.
 
Continued movement over the southwestern Gulf will allow the system to intensify a bit, likely becoming a tropical storm later this morning before coming ashore late in the evening near or just south of the Rio Grande, which is the border between Mexico and Texas. If and when it reaches tropical storm intensity, it would be given the name “Danielle.”
 
Tropical Storm Warnings have been issued from Boca de Catan, Mexico, to Port Mansfield, Texas. This includes South Padre Island and Brownsville, Texas.
 
Despite the storm remaining disorganized, it is likely to produce quite a thump across the lower Rio Grande Valley. Waves of Gulf moisture rotating around the system will move into southern Texas, bringing 1 to 2 inches of rain to the Brownsville area this weekend. Sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts of 40 to 50 mph are also possible.
 
The moisture from this storm will then slide northwestward further into southern Texas, meeting up with a cold front lumbering southeastward from the Rockies. This could lead to copious rainfall amounts Sunday into Monday across northern and central Texas as the two weather systems join forces. While the Lone Star State has seen one of its driest summers ever, the rain may quickly become too much of a good thing, leading to flooding.
 
Thus far, the Atlantic hurricane season has been rather quiet, with just three named storms. The most recent was short-lived Tropical Storm Colin, which formed and dissipated over North Carolina over the Fourth of July weekend. However, forecast trends indicate that the season is about to pick up steam, and an above-average season is still likely. Be sure to make any preparations now, well before the storms form.