Beryl Forecast to Evolve Into Hurricane as it Approaches Texas

What is now Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to intensify back into a hurricane as it inches closer to a likely Monday landfall along the coast of South Texas. Here is the latest on this developing tropical weather event.

Latest Details on Beryl

As of Sunday morning, Beryl was spinning across the Gulf of Mexico about 300 miles from Corpus Christi, Texas. Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm after it unleashed its wrath as a Category 2 hurricane on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday. Prior to that, Beryl roared through the Caribbean and reached the peak of a Category 5 storm.

The storm is forecast to evolve into a Category 1 hurricane as it feeds on the abnormally warm ocean waters in the western Gulf of Mexico. The current forecast models demonstrate that Beryl is headed for a landfall in Southern Texas' Coastal Bend some time Monday afternoon.

Hurricane and storm surge warnings and watches were issued along the Texas coast as residents made preparations for the arrival of Beryl. A hurricane warning was put into effect on Saturday, stretching across the coast of Texas from Baffin Bay and to the north to Sargent. The Texas coastline is also under a hurricane watch from the mouth of the Rio Grande River and to the north to San Luis Pass.

Additionally, a storm surge watch was issued from the Rio Grande to High Island. This watch includes the coastal areas of Harris County. Lastly, a tropical storm warning was issued for the coastline south of Baffin Bay to the bottom of the Rio Grande and over to the northeastern coast of Mexico from Barra el Mezquital to the Rio Grande.

Forecasters believe that Corpus Christi will see the brunt of Beryl's impacts. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is predicting that Beryl will be a Category 1 hurricane when it moves on shore Monday afternoon. The region will begin to feel the impacts throughout the day Sunday as the storm moves closer to the Lone Star State.

The western Gulf Coast will be the first area to see the tropical storm conditions on Sunday. The hurricane conditions will move in during the later part of the day. Rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches are in the forecast with some isolated pockets seeing up to 15 inches of rain. Rainfall of this magnitude will present flash and urban flooding concerns. In addition, potentially dangerous rip currents will be an issue for the next few days across a large portion of the Gulf Coast as Beryl churns up the water in this part of the Atlantic basin.