Nicholas makes landfall south of Houston, will pass over the city later this morning

Hurricane Nicholas made landfall at 12:30 am Tuesday on the eastern part of Matagorda Peninsula, about 10 miles west of the small city of Sargent. It had maximum winds of 75 mph at landfall. The storm is moving about 10 mph to the north-northeast, and along this track the storm should pass almost directly overhead Houston on Tuesday after sunrise. After that it should turn more to the northeast.

Winds

We’re starting to see wind gusts above 60 mph along the coast of Galveston Island, and we expect to see gusts in the 40s and 50s spreading inland over night. So far power outages in coastal counties range from about 90 percent of customers out in Matagorda County, closest to Nicholas, to about 20 percent in Brazoria County, to 10 percent in Galveston County. Further inland, Wharton and Austin counties have significant outages. More can be expected as Nicholas moves closer to Houston and Harris County this morning.

Forecast for maximum wind gusts through sunrise on Tuesday. (Weather Bell)

Rains

So far tonight we’ve seen a thick band of rain showers moving inland from Nicholas, and while the rains have been heavy they have not been excessively so. These rates of generally less than 2 inches per hour are helping to moderate totals. Overall accumulations through Tuesday should be 2 to 8 inches for coastal counties near Houston, with potentially more rain east near Beaumont as Nicholas tracks inland and slows down. Here is the latest rain accumulation forecast from NOAA for now through Wednesday morning.

NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Tuesday night. (Weather Bell)

For the Houston area, it’s likely that the heavier rainfall will wind down between sunrise and noon on Tuesday, with lesser chances afterward. Winds should die down as well. A sense of normalcy should return to our weather by Tuesday afternoon.

“Dirty” side of the storm

We often talk about the “dirty” side of a hurricane, which is located to the right of a storm’s center. This is where the strongest winds, rains, and surge typically lie. And this evening as Nicholas was moving into the Texas coast, its radar signature provided a textbook example of all the activity falling on the east side of the storm, with virtually nothing occurring to the west of the center.

Radar signature of Nicholas, with the center highlighted, shows the “dirty” versus “clean” side of the storm. (RadarScope)

Matt will have our next update by or before 5:30 am CT.

46 thoughts on “Nicholas makes landfall south of Houston, will pass over the city later this morning”

  4. Laying in bed on the second floor of our home in east Harris County listening to the house frame occasionally popping from the high wind. This will be over soon. Stayed awake waiting on this update from SCW and it was well worth the wait. Thank you.

  5. Thanks for the update. Been here in Texas City listening to high winds and rain. Whistling winds sound terrifying, but it could be worse! Hopefully, there is minimal damage. We’re blessed; however! 🙏🙏🙏🙏

  10. Yep! That wind! I tried going to bed, even tried to sleep. But then that wind kicked in. My bedroom has a whole bunch of tall trees about 20-30 feet away, some as tall as the distance. For that reason I thought it best to get up and go into the livingroom in the hopes that I am better protected should one fall. Since they are old and tall, I’m not sure how stable they are. I can also hear things bouncing off the roof. Oh well. I knew it could be an all nighter anyways. I can never sleep during a hurricane.

  12. 1:30 a.m. woke to no power. Must have just happened it was still cool in the house, but 15 minutes later they are back on. Listening to a lot of wind and rain. Peaked outside, no flooding. Central Dickinson

  14. We lost power at 10 only 2 houses on my street we got lots of wind in Alvin guess I will sleep in morning when I get power back

  15. We are in the South Belt area. Power is off and on and wind gusts relocated someone’s trampoline nearby. Definitely feels a bit more than a Cat 1 here.

  18. I’m inside the loop in The Heights. Very much a wind event here. Steady but light rain. My power went off and on three times yesterday morning before the storm was really here. Stay safe everyone

  19. Tomball has cooler temps, light rain, occasional gusts but nothing significant. Hoping the creeks stay in bank if rain picks up.

  20. Pearland has really strong winds and a lot of rain. It’s pretty steady. Those trees blowing…geesh. Hubs is sound asleep and I’m awake with the dogs.

  21. Webster here… lights on one side of W Bay Area Blvd, but not the other, which of course is not mine! 🙁 I’ve been through many storms including Katrina, Ike and Harvey and this wind is scary. Maybe it’s old age but they seem to be harder to deal with. Thankful, though, that it’s no Ida and we may have skirted flooding.

  22. Power has been out in Pearland since 10pm. Winds are stronger than I thought they’d be. One of the trees in our backyard about snapped in half. Fortunately it came down in the yard and not on the roof or the fence. Waiting to see what else happens as we have 2-4 hours more to go before this thing dies down. Stay safe all!

  24. In Spring/Woodlands area and have power so far but not holding my breath. The wind is insane. Hard to sleep with all of it going on. Appreciate these updates. I also enjoy the updates in the comments. Feels like we can connect. Hope you are well!

  25. I’m in Sienna Plantation in Missouri City. Lights went out at 2:00. I’m lying in bed with my doggie and of course my husband is sound asleep 🙄
    The wind and rain are banging on my window. I always dread hurricanes, while my husband always thinks he is Lieutenant Dan, “You’ll never sink this ship!” It appears we will be without electricity for a long time. I can’t sleep!

  26. I just woke up to no electricity and it sounds like hell is going on outdoes from the wind. You can hear things being shifted and tossed about.

  27. Clover 🍀 is still with power;) if we end up losing it though it feels great outside! Greens Bayou is level with the street now….steady…steady…steady…

  28. It’s been an interesting ride for my first time in a RV during a Tropical Storm. I have moved out into my truck as the whole place was moving around. It felt like bad turbulence on an airplane inside. I’m at Ron Hoover RV Park in LaMarque.

  29. SANTA Fe wind died down about 30 minutes ago and rain slacked off for the time being we were getting street flooding , need some time to drain off

  30. In Deer Park. We just lost power.

    It’s windier than a Karen wanting to talk to a manager right now!

    Seriously though, the trees around my apartment are being whipped around something fierce. Let’s hope the windows on mine and my son’s room down get broken from the branches!

  31. Lots of wind in Missouri City, as one of my dogs is doing her best to hide behind me from the sounds from high winds. Rain is coming down a bit heavier now and sure don’t like the trees swaying like that in the front yard. But, so far, so good. I have power, not sleeping, so why not make a cup of coffee? I’m up for the duration. Thank you SCW for calm, rational, honest reports.

  33. Pasadena 77504 still have power.. just very noisy outside.. the wind woke me up about 10 min ago.. lights flickering but still on. Husband says he was told to go to work at 6am..

  35. Heights area, wind is blowing pretty hard. Maybe 1-2″ of rain so far, no real flooding to speak of.

  37. I belive it’s now been classified back to a tropical storm, due to the wind, but not sure if it’s official yet.

  38. I must say this was the most informative site ever with many updates from people with this unfortunate time I bought an rv and land in san leon and stayed with my two dogs I dont think that his was one of my brighter ideas soon to be over is a great thing be safe everyone and thank you

  39. Katy here and our invisible bubble must really exist. Weather gauge says we’ve received minimum all rain and wind maxed at 23 mph overnight. You know your a Texan when you wake because your fan stops and the silence tells you power is out. It came back on quickly. Love your page and keeping us updated with awesome weather reports.

  40. Gotta love you guys! Clear Lake, lots of heavy rain, as expected and blustery winds. Good luck to all. Still have power here so far.

  42. Somewhat noisily windy and gusty in Richmond/Pecan Grove, but not much rain (relatively speaking). Still have power. This is enough drama for me, a southern Illinois native; cannot imagine sitting through a monster like Ida and remaining sane.

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