On Beryl’s Trail: NHC Director Michael Brennon on What to Expect

HOUSTON — As Beryl nears the Texas coast, we know you have questions. On Saturday morning, we spoke to Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center, about what we can expect in the Houston area from Beryl and the timing.

As of Saturday morning, Beryl was a tropical storm that is expected to intensify into a hurricane as it continues to move through Gulf waters. Brennan spoke about the track and challenges posed by the storm.

“With a track parallel to the coast, it doesn’t take a huge shift for the right of our track to make landfall much further down the Texas coast or to the left of the track, for it to make landfall further south, which is why we’ve issued such a significant hurricane watch that extends from the mouth of the Rio Grande all the way to San Luis Pass. And with that storm watch for the potential for life-threatening flooding, all the way to High Island.”

Brennan said Saturday was really the day to prepare.

“Conditions will deteriorate throughout the day tomorrow and especially overnight into Monday,” Brenna said.

As for the timeline, he said tropical storm force winds will reach parts of the Texas coast Sunday night, so you have Saturday and most of Sunday to prepare.

As for conditions further inland, Brennan said to expect wind and lots of rain.

“We’re looking at very slow intensification through the day today (Saturday) and even through tonight and early Sunday morning, and then more rapid intensification as Beryl approaches the Texas coast, basically starting Sunday and continuing through landfall, so we’re looking at Beryl intensifying back to hurricane intensity. After that, it’s going to move quickly inland. I want to quickly touch on the rainfall threat. We’re looking at the potential for 5 to 10 inches of rainfall, widespread totals with isolated amounts up to 15 inches along the Texas Gulf Coast and inland over East Texas starting Sunday and continuing through the middle of next week. So this is going to be a potentially multi-day heavy rainfall event with the potential for some pretty significant flash flooding in some areas.”

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