Harvey is now a Category 2 hurricane and is forecast to strengthen to a Category 3 today as it travels over very warm water in the western Gulf of Mexico.
It is located about 180 miles southeast of Corpus Christi. Top winds have been to 105 mph this morning, but as it intensifies, winds may reach 125 mph as it makes landfall, somewhere between Corpus Christi and Galveston.
- Harvey regains hurricane status Thursday afternoon
- It's forecast to rapidly intensify, hit coast of Texas
- Texas hasn't seen hurricane landfall in 9 years
- RELATED:
- Our sister stations in Austin and San Antonio are providing continuous coverage of Harvey throughout the event. For more details on the impacts in those areas, visit the Spectrum News Austin and Spectrum News San Antonio websites.
Texas has not seen a land-falling hurricane since Ike in September 2008, and the U.S. hasn’t seen a major hurricane make landfall since Wilma in October 2005.
Evacuations have been ordered along the Texas coast, but impacts are set to extend far inland due to the potential for significant rainfall. Since Harvey is expected to slow its speed and stall, it may produce anywhere from 12 to 20 inches of rain, potentially up to 35 inches from south Texas to the Louisiana coastline which may lead to widespread flash flooding.
Along the latest forecast track, Harvey is set to linger in Texas through at least Tuesday or Wednesday.
Storm surge will also be dangerously high. Here are some of the storm surge forecasts:
N Entrance Padre Island Natl Seashore to Sargent...6 to 12 ft
Sargent to Jamaica Beach...5 to 8 ft
Port Mansfield to N Entrance Padre Island Natl Seashore...5 to 7 ft
Jamaica Beach to High Island...2 to 4 ft
Mouth of the Rio Grande to Port Mansfield...2 to 4 ft
High Island to Morgan City...1 to 3 ft
Hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings have been issued for following:
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for...
* Port Mansfield to Sargent Texas
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
* North of Sargent to High Island Texas
* South of Port Mansfield Texas to the Mouth of the Rio Grande
A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...
* South of Port Mansfield Texas to the Mouth of the Rio Grande
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for...
* South of the Mouth of the Rio Grande to Boca de Catan Mexico
Elsewhere in the tropics, we are monitoring a weak area of low pressure off the west coast of Florida which has a medium likelihood of strengthening into a tropical system after it drifts east of the state. Regardless of its tropical classification, it will be responsible for higher rain chances locally through the weekend.
The next system in the Atlantic to receive a name will be called Irma.
