Tropical Storm Alberto Brings Flooding Rains to Texas & Mexico

> The first named storm of the season has caused flooding along coastal Texas. 

> Alberto expected to make landfall in northeast Mexico early Thursday morning

As AccuWeather has been forecasting since the start of the week, a tropical rainstorm developed in the western Gulf of Mexico earlier this week. This storm strengthened Wednesday morning and was named Tropical Storm Alberto
just before 11 a.m. EDT with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.

AccuWeather expert meteorologists say Alberto is moving west and is expected to make landfall in northeast Mexico early Thursday morning.

“Alberto is the first of many named storms we’re expecting this hurricane season, I’m afraid,” said AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno. “Alberto is about 275 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas at the time it strengthened to a tropical storm. All morning we could see clouds gathering around the center of circulation, especially on the southern side where we saw a blowup of thunderstorms.”

Rayno said Alberto is moving through an area with more favorable conditions, but the storm is not expected to strengthen to hurricane strength.

“It didn’t take long to form once the storm moved out of the area with dry air and disruptive wind shear,” explained Rayno. “I’ve seen this setup before with tropical storms, they make their own environment with conditions that are conducive for development. The tropical rainstorm has always been over warm water, but it’s been dealing with the dry air and the wind shear. The dry air is now gone and the wind shear has weakened.”

Alberto has already caused flooding and more than 3 feet of storm surge in parts of coastal south Texas.

“Even though the center of circulation is south of Texas, it has a pretty large circulation. That’s why we’re seeing impacts in coastal and southern Texas. There are going to be bands of heavy rain in Corpus Christi today with thunder and lightning,” said Rayno. “Austin and San Antonio are going to get soaking rains this afternoon and tonight. Corpus Christi, Brownsville, and parts of the Rio Grande Valley will be drenched with 8 to 12 inches of rain. This is an impactful tropical storm. It’s not making landfall in the United States, but it’s certainly having big impacts in Texas.”

People in northeast Mexico have been warned to prepare for flooding, power outages, and wind gusts near 60 mph.

“The mountains of northeastern Mexico could easily see over 2 feet of rain, which would lead to flooding and mudslides. Winds will be gusty along the coast with 40 to 60 mph gusts,” said Rayno. “The persistent northeast wind is going to cause problems with storm surge and coastal inundation during high tide.”

Areas hit hardest by flooding rains in Mexico and Texas could see up to 30 inches of rain this week, according to the AccuWeather Local StormMax™.

AccuWeather expert meteorologists forecast Tropical Storm Alberto to be a 1 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for the United States and Mexico.

An AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale of 1 warns of localized flooding, damage to unanchored mobile homes, vegetation, localized power outages, and coastal inundation resulting in some property damage.

Unlike the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which only factors in wind speed, the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale factors in storm surge, flooding rain, wind, and total economic damage and loss.

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