Tropical Storm Beta heads towards Texas coastline; Hurricane Teddy still churning

We’re entering the final stretch of September, and the tropics remain very busy, with three named storms to track in the Atlantic Basin!

Tropical Storm Beta formed Friday afternoon in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. As of 11 p.m. Sunday, maximum sustained winds are 60 mph.

Tropical Storm Beta is crawling to the west-northwest at 6 MPH, and is forecast to continue on this motion, before reaching the Texas coastline on Monday evening.

While there is some uncertainty in Beta’s track, the tropical storm is expected to bring its greatest impacts to Texas and Louisiana. Beta is not a threat to Southwest Florida.

Heavy rain is the main threat from Beta, with several inches of rain forecast to fall along the Texas & Louisiana coastlines, leading to flooding concerns.

Strong gusty winds are also expected along the Gulf Coast, which could cause sporadic power outages & downed trees.

Other than Beta, we also have Tropical Depression Wilfred and Hurricane Teddy. Neither storm will be a threat to Southwest Florida.

Wilfred is expected to be short-lived as it moves westward across the tropical Atlantic. Thanks to a combination of dry air & wind shear, Wilfred is expected to dissipate on Monday.

 

Teddy has weakened some, but remains a powerful Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds. It is currently moving to the west-northwest at 6 mph.

Teddy is expected to stay out in the Atlantic, but will bring strong gusty tropical squalls to Bermuda beginning later today into tomorrow.

While Teddy won’t have any direct impacts on Southwest Florida, it may have some beneficial indirect impacts! With Teddy moving northward and a cold front trying slowly moving through northern Florida, Teddy could eventually give the needed “push” for the cold front to push completely through Florida by late Monday on the backside of it’s circulation.

This would result in a less humid day Tuesday with lower than average dewpoints in the 60s… just in time for the Autumnal Equinox! In the meantime, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that this forecast verifies.