Erin strengthens to Category 5 hurricane
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Invest 98L, the tropical system that emerged near Mexico early Wednesday, Aug. 13, is tracking toward Texas. Will it impact the state?
Tropical Storm Erin is expected to become a hurricane later today, Aug. 15, and a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph over the weekend. A major hurricane is a Category 3 or stronger, with maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
As the Gulf disturbance nears Texas, tropical moisture will surge Friday and Saturday in the Houston metro area, leading to increasing storm chances.
Though Erin is not currently forecast to make landfall in the U.S., the East Coast could still get heavy rainfall associated with the storm, along with the northern Leeward Islands, the British Virgin Islands and southern and eastern Puerto Rico. Isolated flash flooding, landslides and mudslides are possible.
The National Hurricane Center is tracking two systems in the Atlantic basin, including Invest 98L, which could become a tropical depression before moving onshore in either Mexico or southern Texas.
The center of a tropical disturbance that flared up in the Gulf began to move across land on Friday, bringing heavy rainfall to parts of northeastern Mexico and South Texas.
HOUSTON — A tropical disturbance in the southwestern Gulf now has no chance of developing into a tropical depression but is still expected to send waves of tropical downpours along the Texas coast into Saturday. As of Friday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center is giving this system a 0% chance of development.
Tropical Storm Erin is still expected to become the first hurricane of the season this week as a new threat in the Gulf of Mexico emerges. Here's what to know.