UPDATE: 5:30 p.m. - Tropical storm Harvey has weakened slightly, but still carries sustained winds of 65 mph and a threat for flash flooding rain and tornadoes.

Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 Friday night just northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. The eye passed over San Jose Island, near Rockport, Texas around 11 p.m. Friday. It weakened overnight as it sat over land and was downgraded to a category 1 Saturday morning.

High pressure in the upper atmosphere will block Harvey from moving too far and will remain over east Texas for at least 5 days. Harvey will continue to weaken into a tropical depression sometime Sunday night, but tremendous rainfall will remain a big problem. Onshore wind continues to batter the coastline north of Corpus Christi through Galveston. In the Galveston areas, an intense feeder band has set up over the gulf and continues to pound the area with heavy rainfall. 

This is the type of hazard expected in a wide area over the next few days. 

Harvey is now stationary. Gradual weakening is expected, although it will remain a tropical system into next week. Winds will ease, then this situation will transition into a prolonged, heavy rainfall event. Along the latest forecast track, Harvey is set to linger in Texas through Thursday.

Harvey is expected to produce rainfall amounts of historic levels. Anywhere from 12 to 25 inches of rain may be found from the middle coast of Texas up to the I-10 corridor from San Antonio to Houston, stretching over to the Louisiana coastline. Localized areas may potentially see up to 40 inches which will cause catastrophic flooding.

2 P.M. SATURDAY ADVISORY

Harvey has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but is still carrying sustained winds of 70 mph and a threat for flash flooding rain and tornadoes.

Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 Friday night just northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. The eye passed over San Jose Island, near Rockport, Texas around 11 p.m. Friday. It weakened overnight as it sat over land and was downgraded to a category 1 Saturday morning.

High pressure in the upper atmosphere will block Harvey from moving too far and will remain over east Texas for at least 5 days. Harvey will continue to weaken into a tropical depression sometime Sunday night, but tremendous rainfall will remain a big problem. Onshore wind continues to batter the coastline north of Corpus Christi through Galveston. In the Galveston areas, an intense feeder band has set up over the gulf and continues to pound the area with heavy rainfall. 

This is the type of hazard expected in a wide area over the next few days. 

Harvey is still moving slowly north-northwest, but is nearly stationary today. Gradual weakening is expected, and it will remain a tropical system through the weekend and next week. Although the winds will ease, this situation will transition into a prolonged, heavy rainfall event. Along the latest forecast track, Harvey is set to linger in Texas through Thursday.

Harvey is expected to produce rainfall amounts of historic levels. Anywhere from 12 to 25 inches of rain may be found from the middle coast of Texas up to the I-10 corridor from San Antonio to Houston, stretching over to the Louisiana coastline. Localized areas may potentially see up to 40 inches which will cause catastrophic flooding.

Storm surge will also be dangerously high. Here are some of the storm surge forecasts:

Port Aransas to Port O'Connor...6 to 12 ft

Port O'Connor to Sargent...6 to 9 ft

Sargent to Jamaica Beach...4 to 6 ft

Baffin Bay to Port Aransas...3 to 6 ft

Jamaica Beach to High Island...2 to 4 ft

Mouth of the Rio Grande to Port Mansfield...1 to 3 ft

High Island to Morgan City...1 to 3 ft

 

The following alerts continue across Texas:

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for:

* Baffin Bay to High Island Texas

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for:

* Baffin Bay to Port O'Connor Texas

 

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for:

* North of Port O'Connor to High Island Texas

Elsewhere in the tropics, we are monitoring a weak area of low pressure crossing central Florida tonight. This system has a medium likelihood of strengthening into a tropical or subtropical system after it drifts east of the state. Regardless of its tropical classification, it will be responsible for higher rain chances locally through Sunday. The next system in the Atlantic to receive a name will be called Irma. Another wave coming off the coast of Africa is currently at a low chance of strengthening.