Barry moving inland in Louisiana, still just some showers in Texas

Quick overview: Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Barry made landfall near Intracoastal City, Louisiana this afternoon and is now slowly marching inland over Louisiana. While significant impacts are occurring from central Louisiana through coastal Alabama, we just have a few gusty showers for now in Texas. A more organized area of coastal rain may develop tomorrow and Monday, but details are still somewhat uncertain on exactly how much rain will fall. Either way, we do not expect significant problems at this time, and there are no further tropical concerns to speak of.

Tropical Storm Barry & Houston’s outlook

Barry is moving inland over Louisiana this evening, spinning just west of Lafayette.

Barry will continue a slow drift to the north-northwest and eventually north as we go through the night. All those clouds offshore indicates moisture, all of which will get thrust onshore into Louisiana tonight and tomorrow. Significant rains that have so far been worst in Alabama will begin to cause issues in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Maximum sustained winds are down to 65 mph, and a slow weakening will continue. Notice just a few bands of clouds on the west side of Barry heading into Texas. We’ve got some of the outer bands moving through Houston this evening. At times tonight, you can expect showers and some gusty thunderstorms, with winds perhaps of 20 to 25 mph, but not much worse.

No significant rains or impacts will occur tonight. Tomorrow should start off fair, with no issues expected. A few showers and storms will become possible from mid-morning on. Eventually that could congeal into an organized, slow moving band of heavier rain and storms south and east of Houston, primarily along the coast or just a few miles inland. As such, the Weather Prediction Center has our area is a marginal to slight risk of excessive rain tomorrow.

We are not concerned about significant, widespread flooding tomorrow, but we do think that areas south and east of Houston, primarily areas of southern Brazoria County through Galveston County and up the coast toward Port Arthur stand the best chance of seeing a slow moving, “training” band of showers and storms. While this is not a guarantee, if this were to occur, we could see some mostly minor street flooding in places like Galveston or Lake Jackson tomorrow afternoon or evening. Just something to be on the lookout for right now, and we will update you tomorrow on what expectations look like. In general, rain amounts south and east of Houston will be 1 to 2 inches on average, with higher amounts possible. From Houston to the north and west, some places may see up to an inch or so, and others may see nothing at all.

So if you have outdoor plans in Houston or north and west, you can probably go forward with them, but you may be briefly interrupted by some showers. South and east of Houston and at the beach, consider a backup plan in the afternoon in case the steady rain spoils those plans.

Lastly, there have been a lot of rumors and banter and questions about this storm changing course or that thing 3,000 miles out in the Atlantic becoming a threat. That’s just not true. No reliable modeling shows the thing in the Atlantic even surviving into the Caribbean, let alone all the way to Texas. And the track of Barry has been pretty much set in stone since yesterday or even Thursday, truthfully. So you have absolutely nothing to worry over right now. More tomorrow.