{"id":383575,"date":"2026-07-23T07:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T07:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/383575\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T07:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T07:40:09","slug":"tropical-storm-bertha-weakens-as-it-heads-toward-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/383575\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical Storm Bertha weakens as it heads toward Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Tropical Storm Bertha is moving more quickly toward the Texas coast early Friday, gradually weakening as it tracks along the northern Gulf Coast. While the storm is expected to maintain tropical storm strength through landfall, it is forecast to dissipate after moving inland later today.<\/p>\n

As of 2 a.m. EDT Friday, Bertha was centered about 110 miles southwest of New Orleans and about 120 miles southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The storm was moving west at 12 mph with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. Its minimum central pressure \u2014 a measurement of a storm’s strength, with higher pressure generally indicating a weaker system \u2014 had risen to 1003 millibars.<\/p>\n

\"Tropical<\/p>\n

Tropical Storm Bertha weakens as it heads toward Texas. (WPEC)<\/p>\n

Satellite-derived wind data \u2014 observations that estimate wind speeds using satellite measurements over the ocean \u2014 indicate Bertha’s winds remain at 45 mph. Little change in strength is expected before the center reaches the upper Texas coast later Friday. After moving inland, Bertha is expected to quickly weaken and dissipate over Texas by Friday night.<\/p>\n

The forecast track takes the center near or along the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts through the afternoon before pushing inland across eastern Texas.<\/p>\n

\"Tropical<\/p>\n

Tropical Storm Bertha weakens as it heads toward Texas. (WPEC)<\/p>\n

As Bertha pulls farther west, tropical storm warnings have been scaled back along parts of the central Gulf Coast. A Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect from the Plaquemines-St. Bernard Parish line in Louisiana westward to Sargent, Texas. A Tropical Storm Warning means sustained winds between 39 and 73 mph are expected within the warning area, generally within 24 hours.<\/p>\n

\"Tropical<\/p>\n

Tropical Storm Bertha weakens as it heads toward Texas. (WPEC)<\/p>\n

Tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 160 miles from the center, primarily south of the storm. An offshore oil platform south of Louisiana recently measured sustained winds of 52 mph with gusts to 61 mph. Another platform southwest of Bertha’s center reported an 82 mph wind gust as a severe thunderstorm moved through the area, highlighting how thunderstorms embedded within tropical systems can briefly produce much stronger winds than the storm’s overall sustained intensity.<\/p>\n

Storm surge \u2014 the rise of ocean water pushed ashore by persistent winds \u2014 remains possible along portions of the northern Gulf Coast. Water levels of 1 to 3 feet above normally dry ground are possible from the Alabama-Mississippi border west to Port Bolivar, Texas, including Lake Pontchartrain. The highest water levels will occur along the immediate coastline, with impacts varying depending on the timing of high tide.<\/p>\n

The greatest rainfall threat is shifting west into Texas. Bertha is expected to produce an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain through Friday night along the Texas Gulf Coast and South Texas, with isolated totals reaching 6 inches. Localized flash flooding remains possible, particularly in urban areas where heavy rain can quickly overwhelm drainage systems.<\/p>\n

Swells generated by Bertha will continue spreading westward along the northern Gulf Coast over the next several days. Those swells will create dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents, even at beaches far from the center of the storm.<\/p>\n

While Bertha is entering the final stages of its life cycle, residents along the upper Texas coast should remain prepared for gusty winds, periods of heavy rain and minor coastal flooding before the system moves inland and weakens later Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Tropical Storm Bertha is moving more quickly toward the Texas coast early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-383575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383575","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=383575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}