Tropical Storm Alberto Forms as Texans Warned of Storm Surge

Recently formed Tropical Storm Alberto is expected to heavily flood the southern Texas and northeastern Mexico coast, with a threat of raising water levels four feet due to a “dangerous storm surge,” according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Formed in the western Gulf of Mexico, the first named storm of the hurricane season, Tropical Storm Alberto is drenching parts of Texas with heavy rains and maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour that can extend 415 miles north from its center, according to the NHC.

A tropical storm is defined by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration as having maximum sustained winds from 39 to 79 miles per hour.

Texans along the coast have been informed of a tropical storm warning. A public advisory issued by NHC Wednesday morning notified the public that heavy rainfall, predicted at around 5 to 10 inches, is expected to produce “considerable flash and urban flooding.”

The NHC produced a map of the “peak storm surge forecast” showing water could reach 1 to 3 feet above ground from the mouth of the Rio Grande to Sargent and from Sabine Pass to the Vermilion/Cameron Parish line, and 2 to 4 feet in Galveston Bay. The map was posted on the NHC’s storm surge account on X, formerly Twitter.

“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 advisory explains.

If the surge occurs during high tide, the water level is expected to rise to the higher end of the range estimation. “Elevated water levels will likely be accompanied by large and destructive waves,” the NHC warned.

The NHC also warned, “A couple of tornadoes are possible today and tonight
across parts of Deep South Texas and Southeast Texas.”

Newsweek reached out to the National Hurricane Center for additional information via email on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott increased the states’ readiness to level II “to begin 24-hour operations ahead of tropical weather hazards expected to impact the state,” his press release said.

“As we prepare for severe tropical weather, Texas is activating all personnel and resources needed to support Texans and communities that will be potentially impacted by excessive rain and flooding,” the governor said in the press release.

The NHC advisory predicts “some slight strengthening in forecast today or tonight before the center of Alberto reaches land,” which is expected Thursday morning. “Rapid weakening is expected once the center moves inland, and Alberto is likely to dissipate over Mexico Thursday or Thursday night,” the advisory explained.

Atlantic hurricane season takes place from June 1 to the end of November, with Tropical Storm Alberto the first to be named this season.

The NHC is set to issue another advisory this afternoon at 4 pm CDT, 5 pm ET.