With Valley in cone of uncertainty, NWS says don't wait on storm preparation

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While it’s still too early to predict what, if any, impact Hurricane Beryl will have on the Rio Grande Valley, the National Weather Service Brownsville-RGV is urging residents to prepare for the worst now instead of procrastinating.

Flood insurance, for instance: NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Barry Goldsmith, in a recent update, pointed out that new flood insurance policies take 30 days to take effect after filing the paperwork, which means that putting it off until later in July — especially if the lower Texas coast experiences a direct hurricane strike in August — could leave property owners holding the bag.

Now is also the time for residents to deal with structural issues in homes, businesses and other buildings, to make them more storm-resilient; ensure evacuation plans are in place, and have “stay” and “go” kits completed, he said.

Beryl, as of midday Tuesday churning its way westward through the Caribbean toward Jamaica, became a Category 5 hurricane late Monday. Supercharged by abnormally warm ocean temperatures, it is the first Category 5 on record to form this early in the Atlantic hurricane season. By Tuesday afternoon Beryl had weakened to a Category 4.

The storm is expected to continue weakening as it moves west thanks to the influence of wind shear and drier air, making landfall on the island of Jamaica or passing just to the south as a Category 3 on Wednesday. Assuming Beryl sticks to its current course, forecasters expect it to make landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula as a weaker hurricane sometime Friday morning, then later entering the southwestern Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm.

NWS said Tuesday that “high pressure will remain in control through at least Friday night, maintaining heat and humidity typical of early July” across the Valley and deep South Texas.

“Conditions for the weekend will be highly dependent on the track and intensity of Beryl,” NWS said. “At minimum, isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected, but dangerous surf, rip currents and tidal run-up on the beach are also potential impacts.”

Between Saturday and early Sunday is when initial impacts would be felt in South Texas. For Saturday, meteorologists were forecasting a 20% chance of scattered thunderstorms east of I-69C, and for Sunday, a 20-30% chance. Deep South Texas is within the National Hurricane Center’s “cone of uncertainty” illustrating where Beryl could make landfall, though so are hundreds of miles of Mexican Gulf coastline — spotlighting the large degree of uncertainty over exactly where it will make landfall.

Nevertheless, it’s time to prepare, Goldsmith reiterated.

“There may still be some time for wrapping up preparedness in July, but the window is closing,” he said. “Waiting until mid/late July to begin resilience-building may be akin to playing roulette.”

Here’s the latest update:

Beryl could affect deep South Texas as storm track uncertainty lingers

Heating up: NWS says more tropical cyclones could impact South Texas