Steven points out it’s not that likely to become a hurricane, but around here, “only a tropical storm” is not something to inspire over-confidence.
Update: Already raining. Not part of Edouard, but it’s part of the same conditions that spawned the storm. The most disturbing thing I’ve seen is the speed with which it formed. At 5pm EDT this evening, it was first designated a Tropical Depression. An hour later it had to be upgraded to a Tropical Storm — the pressure fell 5mb in ninety minutes, requiring the special update. Such strengthens the wind speed and total power of the storm. Last measurement had it at 1002mb. Below about 990 it’s getting close to hurricane status — pressure at the nominal hurricane point is around 980mb. In other words, if it kept intensifying at the same rate (not at all likely, I admit) it’s becoming a hurricane right now as I type this.
I’ll post again after the 11pm EDT update.
11pm UPDATE: it’s leveled off in strength and the track has been moved slightly north. That’s a good sign, for Houston.
Leveling off is good, but tracking north is not. Hurricanes rotate counter-clockwise, so the maximum winds are going to be just to the south of the eye as it heads west. What you really wanted was for it to track more southward.
No, the max winds are in the northeast quadrant. Rain and tornadoes also.
You’re right. I wasn’t thinking.
And this storm was weird, in that the west and northwest sides had the strongest rain and wind.