{"id":380324,"date":"2026-07-21T00:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/380324\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T00:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:48:12","slug":"tropical-storm-bertha-forms-in-gulf-with-texas-in-its-possible-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/380324\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical Storm Bertha forms in Gulf with Texas in its possible path"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tropical<\/p>\n

Tropical Storm Bertha formed Monday night, according to the National Hurricane Center.<\/p>\n

National Hurricane Center<\/p>\n

Tropical Storm Bertha\u00a0formed Monday in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico<\/a>, becoming the Atlantic\u2019s second named storm of the 2026 hurricane season as it begins a slow trek toward the western Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

Bertha developed from Tropical Depression Two<\/a>, which formed Sunday, after satellite imagery and hurricane air reconnaissance data confirmed a better-defined circulation and increasing thunderstorm bands near its center. While the current forecast keeps the strongest effects east of Texas, considerable uncertainty remains over how much of the storm ultimately reaches Southeast Texas later this week.<\/p>\n

As of 7 p.m. Monday, the rotating center of Bertha was about 110 miles south of Panama City in the Florida Panhandle, packing maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. The storm was moving west-northwest at 3 mph.<\/p>\n

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Where is Tropical Storm Bertha going next?<\/p>\n

Bertha is expected to remain a relatively weak tropical storm<\/a> while gradually turning westward along the northern Gulf Coast over the next several days.<\/p>\n

The latest forecast brings the center near southeastern Louisiana by midweek before continuing west toward Southeast Texas later this week. However, confidence naturally decreases farther into the forecast, and relatively small changes in the storm\u2019s track could produce significantly different outcomes for Texas.<\/p>\n

TROPICAL STORM BERTHA:\u00a0What are the best-case, worst-case and most likely scenarios for Texas?<\/a><\/p>\n

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The National Hurricane Center<\/a> expects Bertha to peak with maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph before increasing northeasterly wind shear begins pulling thunderstorms away from the storm\u2019s center, causing it to weaken. Some forecast guidance even suggests the circulation could dissipate before reaching Texas if it spends more time over land.<\/p>\n

For now, the greatest uncertainty isn\u2019t whether Bertha strengthens further. It\u2019s exactly where the center tracks after reaching the northern Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

What could Bertha mean for Texas?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still too early to pinpoint specific weather hazards for Southeast Texas.<\/p>\n

Regardless of Bertha\u2019s eventual track, Texans along the coast should expect increasing surf, dangerous rip currents and at least some coastal water level rise later this week. It\u2019s still unclear how much of the storm\u2019s heavier rainfall and stronger winds ultimately reach the Houston area.<\/p>\n

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Another wrinkle is Bertha\u2019s expected structure. Increasing wind shear is expected to keep the bulk of the rain and strongest winds south of the storm\u2019s center, meaning relatively small shifts in the track could have an outsized effect on where the greatest storm threats occur.<\/p>\n

The forecast should come into much sharper focus over the next day or two as Bertha begins its westward turn.<\/p>\n

Bertha forms as El Ni\u00f1o shapes hurricane season<\/p>\n

Bertha is only the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, reflecting the unusually hostile environment that has developed across much of the basin.<\/p>\n

A strengthening El Ni\u00f1o has increased wind shear \u2014 a difference in wind speed or direction with altitude that disrupts tropical storms \u2014 across the tropical Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. That same wind shear is expected to limit Bertha\u2019s strengthening later this week, with the current forecast keeping the storm below hurricane intensity.<\/p>\n

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While Bertha is unlikely to become a particularly strong tropical storm, it serves as another reminder that even weaker systems can produce dangerous flooding rainfall, rough surf and coastal impacts depending on their track.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll continue updating this forecast as Bertha moves west and confidence grows in where the greatest hazards are most likely to occur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tropical Storm Bertha formed Monday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. National Hurricane Center Tropical Storm Bertha\u00a0formed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-380324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}