Tropical Storm Nicholas Brings Flooding Rain Threat to Texas, Louisiana,
- Nicholas made landfall as a hurricane in Texas early Tuesday.
- Rainfall flooding is a major concern in parts of southeast Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
- Strong wind gusts and storm surge continue to impact the coast.
Tropical Storm Nicholas will spread its threat of flooding rain from southeast Texas into Louisiana and Mississippi the next couple of days after making landfall as a hurricane overnight.
Nicholas made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph at 1 a.m. CDT Tuesday about 20 miles northeast of Matagorda, Texas.
The center of Nicholas is now located near Houston. Moderate to heavy rain extends to the east of that center, from far southeast Texas into Louisiana and southern Mississippi.
More than 500,000 homes and businesses were without power in southeast Texas, including the Houston area, as of late Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
(MORE: Latest Updates on Impacts From Nicholas)
Winds gusts over 50 mph were clocked at Houston’s Hobby airport this morning. Parts of the far southeast Houston metro area picked up 4 to 7 inches of rain in 24 hours.
Galveston, Texas, has the highest storm total rainfall so far with 13.96 inches as of early Tuesday.
A storm surge of 3 to 4 feet above normal tide levels has been observed this morning on the upper Texas coast, including around the Galveston Bay area.
Current Radar, Watches and Warnings
(The icon shows the current location of the center of Nicholas.)
A topical storm warning is in effect from San Luis Pass, Texas, to Cameron, Louisiana, as well as some inland counties near the coast, including the Houston metro area. This means tropical-storm-force winds (39+ mph) are expected to continue in southeast Texas through this morning and will spread into coastal southwest Louisiana by this afternoon.
Watches and Warnings
(A watch is issued when tropical storm or hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours. A warning is issued when those conditions are expected within 36 hours. )
Nicholas will weaken to a tropical depression and as it gradually turns more to the northeast and then east over eastern Texas and Louisiana through Wednesday and into Thursday.
Projected Path, Intensity Forecast
(The red-shaded area denotes the potential path of the center of the tropical cyclone. It’s important to note that impacts (particularly heavy rain, high surf, coastal flooding, winds) with any tropical cyclone usually spread beyond its forecast path.
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Here’s a look at the expected forecast impacts from Nicholas.
Forecast Impacts
Flooding Rainfall
The potential for major rainfall flooding will be the most widespread threat from Nicholas going forward.
Heavier rain will be concentrated mainly near and to the east of where the center of Nicholas tracks. This area of heavier rain will follow the track of Nicholas across eastern Texas and into Louisiana and Mississippi through early Thursday.
Nicholas could produce storm total rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches (locally up to 20 inches) from the upper Texas coastline to central and southern Louisiana, far southern Mississippi and far southern Alabama, according to NOAA.
This includes areas still recovering from Hurricane Ida in…
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