There’s still some uncertainty around a tropical system deemed “Invest 97L” that was meandering west toward Texas on Monday, but one thing’s for sure, according to Space City Weather meteorologist Eric Berger: There will be rain.
Precisely where that rain will fall and how much of it there will be is somewhat unpredictable.
The National Hurricane Center predicts a 70 percent chance of the system becoming a tropical depression or storm. It’s expected to come ashore midday Tuesday. Coastal areas from High Island near Galveston up the Texas coast to Cameron, Louisiana, should prepare for the possibility of a landfalling tropical storm, Berger wrote in his blog on Monday.
CenterPoint Energy activated its Emergency Operations Center and is encouraging its 2.8 million customers in the 12-county region it serves to sign up for outage alerts and restoration time estimates.
Jason Fabre, CenterPoint’s vice president of special response and distribution operations, also serves as the incident commander when severe weather is predicted.
“We have activated our preparedness plans, and our crews and contractors stand ready to respond to any service impacts for our customers,” Fabre said in a statement. “We are closely monitoring the weather models as conditions continue to evolve and urge our customers to stay alert in anticipation of quickly changing weather conditions.”
While the rain may bring slightly cooler temperatures, Harris County and the surrounding areas will still see high temps in the low 90s extending through Labor Day weekend.
“The primary threat is heavy rain and the potential for flash flooding, particularly east of Houston heading into midweek,” Berger said. The storm could produce 3 to 6 inches of rain as it moves inland, but Berger said he expects the number will be much lower for Houston proper, with about half an inch to 2 inches of rain anticipated.
“Right now our best guess based upon 97L’s track is that this band of heavy rain falls just to the east of the Houston metro area, between here and Beaumont. But this could shift (closer to, or further from Houston), and we will want to pay attention over the next two days to see how this system evolves. The most likely period for heavy rainfall is from early Tuesday through Tuesday evening,” Berger said.
The meteorologist added that he doesn’t anticipate impactful winds but will be monitoring the storm for possible changes in track and intensity.
CenterPoint’s Chief Communications Officer Keith Stephens told the Houston Press that hurricane season is at its peak, so the power company has 2,700 crews on standby, inspecting lines and substations and clearing hazardous vegetation.
“The best thing a customer can do right now is check on those who might be more vulnerable: people who are living on their own, maybe college kids away for the first time or elderly people living in your neighborhood,” he said. “Those are always good folks to check in with when there’s inclement or extreme weather bearing down on the greater Houston area.”
CenterPoint’s meteorologists expect the greatest impact to be early Tuesday morning before rush hour in the coastal areas and then moving swiftly through the greater Houston area. “I would expect in some places a lot of rain and in some places, not a lot of rain,” Stephens said. “It’s really going to depend on where you are. What we’re hearing right now is that there’s probably going to be more accumulation east of [Interstate] 45.”
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