Through 8 am...scattered showers...moving northwest around 30 mph...will move into portions of south Texas...generally south and east of a line from Mathis to Beeville to Victoria...just north of Port Aransas. Additional showers will also affect rural areas near the La Salle and McMullen County line. Rainfall amounts will average 1/4 inch or less. A lightning strike is also possible...along with some brief wind gusts associated with any thunderstorm.
Forecast for Nueces
Updated: 3:40 am CST on November 8, 2009
Today
Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the upper 70s. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.
Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening...then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the lower 60s inland...in the mid 60s coast. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.
Monday
Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 80s. North winds 10 to 20 mph.
A trough of low pressure over the western Gulf of Mexico is expected to move north into the northwest Gulf of Mexico later tonight. This will lead to increasing east to northeast flow today with a strong northeast flow developing by late this afternoon across the offshore waters. The low will eventually merge with Tropical Storm Ida... as Ida moves into the northern Gulf Coast early next week.
The combination of the western Gulf low and Ida will lead to higher waves over the Gulf waters and increasing long period swells. This will increase the tide levels along the middle Texas coast. Minor coastal flooding is likely around the time of high tide along the Texas coast especially today and tonight. Tide levels are expected to be around 1 foot above normal... or 2 to 2 1/2 feet above mean sea level on the beach side of the barrier islands. This will cause minor flooding of area beaches.
The next high tide at Port Aransas will occur at 1036 PM CST this evening. At Port O'Connor... high tide occurred at 418 am Sunday morning... with the next high tide expected at 501 am Monday morning.
In addition to the coastal flooding... high swells will lead to dangerous rip currents along the coast today. Rip currents can be life threatening even to experienced swimmers and surfers. The concern for rip currents will diminish by Monday as winds shift more to the north.
Precautionary/preparedness actions...
Swimming and other marine-related activities are highly discouraged due to the threat from heavy surf and rip currents. Heavy surf and rip currents pose a danger to anyone in the water.
If you are caught in a rip current... do not panic. Escape the current by swimming in a direction following the shoreline until you are free from the rip current.
Driving on area beaches is discouraged as water levels could rise trapping vehicles on the beach during high tide.
Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or your local media for the latest updates on this situation... as a coastal Flood Watch may be required later depending on the progress of Tropical Storm Ida as it moves into the Gulf.
Public Information Statement
Statement as of 12:30 am CDT on November 08, 2009
preliminary climate data for Corpus Christi International Airport Saturday November 07 2009
High temperature : 81 low temperature : 59 rainfall (inches) : 0.00 2009 rainfall: 12.80 highest wind gust : 22 mph direction of gust : east
Normal and record temperatures for today... normal record year high 77 93 1989 low 58 36 1943
Sunrise this morning : 646 am CST sunset this evening : 541 PM CST
Preliminary climate data for Victoria Regional Airport Saturday November 07 2009
High temperature : 82 low temperature : 54 rainfall (inches) : 0.00 2009 rainfall: 21.27 highest wind gust : 25 mph direction of gust : southeast
Normal and record temperatures for today... normal record year high 75 90 1927 low 54 33 1938
Sunrise this morning : 646 am CST sunset this evening : 537 PM CST
Notice to users! This is an experimental abbreviated climate message. A full climate summary will be issued under the header clicrp... WMO header cdus44 kcrp... by 700 am this morning. Please address any comments on this product to John Metz (john.Metz@noaa.Gov).