As Beryl tracks toward Texas, forecasters shift warnings as far east as San Luis Pass

The National Hurricane Center extended its hurricane watch as far east along the Texas coast as San Luis Pass while Beryl continued its move across the Yucatan Peninsula late Friday.

The system, which dropped to tropical storm status from a Category 1 hurricane after Beryl came ashore in the Yucatan, is expected to reenergize when it crosses into the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to become a hurricane again as it approaches the Texas coast later in the weekend.

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The hurricane center also issued a storm surge watch as far north as High Island and warned the potential for rip tides across the gulf.

The continued development of the storm and its expected northwest turn from the Yucatan Peninsula increasingly suggest Beryl’s effects could reach Houston.

Earlier Friday, Space City Weather meterorologist Matt Lanza had recommended Houston-area residents prepare, but not panic, for the storm’s reach.

“It’s tricky for Houston, specifically,” Lanza said. “The cone is just where the center of the storm may track. You have to look at it with a grain of salt because there are a lot of impacts that spread out from the center.”

The National Hurricane Center’s 10 p.m. update shifted the potential landfall from far south Texas to between Corpus Christi and Matagorda Bay, Lanza tweeted .

Beryl made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico as a Category 1 storm Friday morning, but had weakened to a Tropical Storm by late afternoon with sustained wind speeds down to 60 mph. The storm initially was expected to turn northward after passing into the Gulf of Mexico Friday night, regaining strength before approaching the southern part of the Texas coast late Sunday as a hurricane, according to a 4 p.m. National Hurricane Center advisory .

The center issued a hurricane watch and storm surge watch along the Texas coast, from the Rio Grande to Sargent in east Matagorda County. Five to 10 inches of rainfall is expected across parts of the Gulf Coast and East Texas, with local amounts approaching 15 inches, the NHC advisory states. Flash flooding and urban flooding are possible across parts of the coast and East Texas through the middle of next week. The 10 p.m. advisory included the same warnings and noted that tropical-storm-force winds could extend as far as 105 miles from the storm’s center.

Beryl’s apostrophe-shaped “cone of uncertainty,” – what the National Hurricane Center projects as the storm’s probable path – encompassed much of the Texas coast late Friday.

The impacts and intensity of the storm on the Houston area will depend on the track the storm takes over the next 24 hours, Lanza said.

“The problem is, the storm turns,” he said. “When it’s coming in at an angle, a turn can be really sharp. It’s these little changes in the angle that can mean 50 to 100 miles difference on where it comes ashore.”

If the storm turns far enough north toward Corpus Christi, landfall could occur well into the day on Monday. If it tracks farther southeast, landfall could be as early as Sunday evening, according to the NWS.

Houston is unlikely to experience hurricane-force winds, but it could see some strong gusts and a lot of rainfall, Lanza said.

Residents living along the coast should begin preparing for tidal flooding, regardless of where the storm ends up making landfall, Lanza said. Tides are forecast to be at their highest midday Monday, according to the NWS.

The eastern side of a hurricane always produces more rainfall than the western because the storm’s counterclockwise rotation draws in moist, tropical air, creating rain bands stretching far from the storm’s center, Lanza said.

The National Hurricane Center encouraged residents to monitor the storm’s track and their local forecast closely as the storm moves out of Mexico and into the Gulf.

Harris County officials said they are keeping a watchful eye over Beryl’s path.

“Houston has multiple possibilities for Beryl,” said Brian Murray, deputy emergency management coordinator for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “It’s a lot of wait and see.”

Murray said he does not anticipate Beryl will prompt evacuations, but said the storm could bring several inches of rain.

Officials said Beryl’s impact on the Houston region will become clearer  throughout the weekend. Murray urged residents to keep an eye out for messaging from the office and the forecast.

The city of Houston is preparing for the storm’s many possible impacts in the region, said Brent Taylor, chief communications officer for the Houston Office of Emergency Management.

Much of that preparation occurs up to and throughout hurricane season, regardless of the current storm threat, Taylor said. He encouraged Houstonians to take those same steps now, such as forming an emergency plan and stocking up on needed hurricane supplies.

“It’s not time to panic, but it is time to prepare,” Taylor said.

The Office of Emergency Management offers hurricane readiness checklists and a signup for emergency alerts from the city .

Though it is too soon to consider calling for evacuations, Taylor encouraged residents to sign up for emergency alerts as Beryl draws closer to Texas.

The biggest threat to the city is likely to be rainfall, Taylor added.

“In Houston, it doesn’t cause a hurricane to cause tremendous flooding,” he said. “We’ve seen it several times, and recently, as well.”

Reporter McKenna Oxenden contributed to this story.