The center of Tropical Storm Arthur reformed Wednesday evening near Galveston, Texas. Image courtesy of NOAA.
June 17 (UPI) — The center of Tropical Storm Arthur reformed near Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday evening as the storm was expected to cause potentially dangerous flooding across portions of the southeastern United States, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.
The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed along the Texas coast earlier in the day.
The eye of the storm was about 10 miles northwest of Galveston, Texas, and 115 miles west-southwest of Lake Charles, La., the NHC said in its 7 p.m. CDT update.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph — slightly less than in the NHC’s 4 p.m. update — and was moving northeast at 8 mph.
There was a tropical storm warning in effect from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, La.
“On the forecast track, the center of Arthur should move farther inland over southeastern Texas tonight,” the NHC said.
The storm is expected to weaken as it moves inland, and it could dissipate by Wednesday night or early Thursday. Rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches were expected, with totals up to 20 inches in isolated areas, through early Friday from the mid and upper Texas coast, into southern and central Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and the western parts of Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.
“This could generate dangerous to life-threatening flash flooding,” the NHC said.
Tropical storm-force winds were expected in the warning area into Wednesday night. A storm surge of 1 to 3 feet could affect areas from Matagorda, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Swells generated by the storm are likely cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions across the northwestern Gulf Coast for the next few days. Tornadoes are possible late tonight across southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi and tomorrow into parts of Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.
