Tropical storm Beta forecast to move inland Monday, churns in the Gulf

As Tropical Storm Beta stirred in the Gulf of Mexico, several warnings were issued across sections of the Texas and Louisiana coast still reeling from damage by hurricanes Laura and Sally.

Forecasters warned of storm surge and tropical storm conditions from Beta, which was moving near 6 mph Sunday. The storm is likely to move inland Monday and remain close to the southeastern Texas coast Tuesday.

Beta had maximum sustained winds near 60 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. There will be little change in the storm’s strength as it approaches the coast, but it will most likely weaken as it moves inland, the hurricane center said.

The storm was about 120 miles south-southeast of Galveston, Texas, as of late Sunday afternoon, according to the hurricane center, which issued a storm surge warning from Port Aransas, Texas, to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana.

Also Read: Tropical Storm Beta meandering toward Texas, Louisiana

The storm could cause tornadoes Monday along the Texas and Louisiana coasts, forecasters said.

The coast may not be spared heavy rain and storm surge similar to the effects of other storms that have slammed the Gulf Coast this hurricane season, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center.

Beta is expected to produce 6 to 12 inches of rainfall through Thursday, with isolated pockets that could total 15 inches from the middle of the Texas coast to southern Louisiana, the hurricane center said Sunday.

The storm surge could be as much as 4 feet.

“The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” the hurricane center said.

Voluntary evacuation orders were issued Saturday for the Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston.

Beta, the 23rd named storm this hurricane season, formed after meteorologists exhausted the 21-name alphabetical list and switched to the Greek alphabet.

This is only the second time the hurricane center has turned to the Greek alphabet for new names. The first was during the 2005 hurricane season, when meteorologists used six Greek names. That season had a total of 27 named storms.