The western Panhandle could see 5 to 7 inches of rain and flooding over the next two days, in addition to a tornado risk in the area, reports said.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect Wednesday morning from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana. A Tropical Storm Watch is also in effect for the northeastern Texas coast from Sargent to High Island.
In addition to heavy rains, severe thunderstorms, combined with the strong wind gust risk that’s forecast, brings the potential for tornadoes or waterspouts to form from the upper Texas coast to southern Louisiana and the panhandles of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, forecasters said.
“It’s official! We have our first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane season. Arthur has strengthened to a tropical depression with winds of 40 mph. Arthur is expected to move slowly to the northeast and flooding is still expected with the storm. No impacts to us in Tampa Bay,” Denis Philips, chief meteorologist for Tampa Bay 28, wrote in a social media post.
Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters investigating the storm on Wednesday morning found peak flight-level winds up to 52 knots, Fox 13’s Paul Dellegatto wrote in a social media post.