History was made last night, when Category 4, Hurricane Harvey came ashore on the Texas coast near Rockport. Category 4 hurricanes are extremely rare. In the US, the last one was 2004. In Texas the last Cat 4 was 1961. The worst news – there are no steering currents to take Harvey away. This system, now a category 1 storm with 90 mph winds, will stick around as a hurricane and then tropical storm for the next 4-5 days. This will cause a horrific amount of rainfall – life-threatening, catastrophic flooding, the likes of which have not been seen in this country for many years. Early this morning, Harvey is 30 miles SW of Victoria, moving NW at 6. 90 mph wind.
PROLIFIC CATASTROPIC RAINFALL: Rainfall, I’m afraid will be measured in feet. Rainfall totals of 25-35” will be common, amounts over 45” are possible. As I said on the Friday video, “this will be real American tragedy.” Please keep the people of Texas in your thoughts.
The News is Good For Us: With Harvey stuck over Texas for several days, our weather will be quiet. The combination of eastern winds around strong high pressure on southern Canada, and the circulation around the hurricane, will create and easterly flow across Alabama for the next few days. The end result will be some very comfortable temperatures. Rain chances will remain low, through early week, and then get a little better a tropical moisture returns Wednesday through Friday.
Please keep the good people of Texas in your thoughts and prayers.
–Rich