SAN ANTONIO — A hurricane slammed into Texas on Monday, but if you live in San Antonio you might not have known it.
Shortly after strengthening back into hurricane status overnight, Beryl arrived in Matagorda as a Category 1, slamming the coast with heavy rain and wind gusts upwards of 80 mph. The storm knocked out power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses, brought more than a foot of rain to some area of Houston, and is being blamed by officials for at least seven deaths. Now a tropical depression, the fast-moving tempest is threatening more torrential rain and severe weather in other states this week.
As recently as last Monday, San Antonio was projected to receive several inches of rain from Beryl. But as we got closer to Monday and more reports emerged, Beryl shifted its path further and further east, eventually erasing any possibility that our drought-stricken region would receive beneficial rain.
The region, as a result, Bexar County is in almost the exact same state of moderate or severe drought that the U.S. Drought Monitor said it was mired in this time last month. Instead of showers, San Antonio will have to be content with slightly cooler afternoon highs.
Where is Beryl now?
Now a tropical depression with sustained winds of 35 mph, Beryl was exiting Texas on Monday evening and moving inland, north-northeast, at 16 mph. Beryl was forecast to bring more strong rain and winds into additional states over the coming days.
One of those, Missouri was already dealing with a wet summer. Heavy rains unrelated to the storm prompted several water rescues around the city of Columbia, where rivers and creeks were already high ahead of Beryl's expected arrival on Tuesday.
As of 9:20 p.m. Monday, more than 1.88 million people in the Houston area and the gulf coast were still without power. Track state outages here.
How warm will it be the next few days in SA?
Beryl's arrival to Texas brings down our high temperatures from the triple-digit conditions we saw as recently as July Fourth.
Here's how the next several days are shaping up on the thermometer in the city:
- Tuesday: High of 95, low of 76
- Wednesday: High of 95, low of 76
- Thursday: High of 93, low of 75
- Friday: High of 94, low of 76
What determines hurricane strength?
Hurricane categories are determined on a 1-to-5 scale based on their maximum sustained wind speeds. Weaker hurricanes have sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph, while the strongest ones have wind speeds nearing 160 mph. Storms below the threshold for hurricane status are called tropical storms.
- Category 1: 74 to 95 mph
- Category 2: 96 to 110 mph
- Category 3: 111 to 129 mph
- Category 4: 130 to 156 mph
- Category 5: 157-plus mph