Always interesting watching a landfalling tropical storm or hurricane. Edouard is affording us that opportunity without a lot of fear of death and destruction.
But satellite photos indicate the convection is increasing with Edouard. Radar images from Lake Charles show increasing storms around the eyewall.
Edouard is nearing hurricane intensity. The 1 a.m. advisory places the maximum sustained winds at 60 mph. No change. It likely will become a hurricane in the next few hours. Minimum central pressure is 997 mb according to the NHC. A dropsonde about 12:22 a.m. CDT indicated a surface pressure of 1000 mb. Surface winds were 44 knots, or about 51 mph at the site of the drop, so that was certainly not the center….
An Air Force plane is in the storm and will provide center fixes until it makes landfall.
The center is 90 miles SE of Beaumont and 120 miles ESE of Galveston. Motion is WNW at 10 mph. Moving a little faster. That trend is expected to continue.
Always seems like a storm coming in to land at an angle turns a little landward as the core starts to interact with the shoreline. This has made the storm take a little jog to the right.
At the same time, though, I am not sure that we are not seeing a reformation of the center a little futher offshore in the last few radar frames. If that is a center…it seems to be taking a more westerly track. This would keep it over water longer and give it the chance to strengthen further and carry it more toward Houston.
A reformation might also mean rapid intensification…if the storm circulation is tightening.
If the more northerly track continues, it could move over Cameron and Lake Charles.
SPOT REPORTS
Beaumont TX…NE 13…pressure 29.89
Lake Charles LA…ENE 13…pressure 29.89
Patterson LA…E 15 G 26…pressure 29.94
Tides will run 2-4 feet above normal in the onshore flow area. Rains will average 3-6 inches with isolated 10 inches. Some of the heavy rain areas are in an extreme drought situation, so the rains will be welcome for many. Tornadoes will be a problem especially in the right semicircle of the path over land.
