Beryl Tracker: What Houston and Southeast Texas can expect, when

HOUSTON — As of 10 a.m. Saturday, Beryl remained a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph as it moved toward the Texas Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center said.

Beryl is expected to hit the central Texas coast as a Category 1 storm early Monday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. The cone, however, is expanding to include parts of southeast Texas and Matagorda Bay. Even a gale force wind from a powerful Category 1 hurricane will impact the coast and inland, with a threat of heavy rain in play for the Houston area Monday and Tuesday. (Updated in Spanish).

Heavy rains are expected to be the main threat, with a band of 5 to 7 inches or more expected across the southeast Texas region.

With Texas in Beryl’s path, the KHOU 11 weather team is calling for weather impact alert days Monday and Tuesday.

Hurricane and storm surge warnings have been issued for parts of the western Gulf Coast from the Rio Grande north to High Island.

At this point, the exact location of the hurricane’s landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast remains uncertain, but we’ll know more this weekend. It’s important to stay on top of this forecast throughout the weekend.

As of Saturday’s 10 a.m. update, Beryl was a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, moving west-northwest at 12 mph.

Hurricane and storm surge watches are in effect for Brazoria, Matagorda and Jackson counties.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is serving as acting governor while Gov. Abbott is out of the country, has issued a disaster declaration for 40 counties he said are at risk for Beryl. Those counties are: Aransas, Atascosa, Bee, Bexar, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, DeWitt, Dimmit, Duval, Frio, Goliad, Gonzales, Hidalgo, Jackson, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kenedy, Kinney, Kleberg, LaSalle, Lavaca, Live Oak, MatagordaMaverick, McMullen, Medina, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Uvalde, Victoria, Webb, WhartonWillacy, Wilson, Zapata and Zavala.

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was shaping up to be an active one, with Colorado State University and NOAA predicting well-above-normal numbers. In fact, NOAA’s forecast for the season was the most aggressive ever produced. Several factors, including record-high sea surface temperatures and a transition to La Niña by late summer, were behind the aggressive forecast. However, Hurricane Beryl is already breaking records before the peak of the season even arrives. Meteorologist Pat Cavlin listed the records the storm has already broken.