Weekly Weather Event -Week of Sept. 16
September 20, 2019At 11:54 AM CST on September 17th, the National Hurricane Center identified cyclonic motion off the coast of Texas and declared the eleventh tropical depression of the season. By 12:45 PM, Tropical Depression 11 was upgraded to Tropical Storm Imelda, and by 1:30 PM, the storm made landfall in Freeport, Texas. Tropical Storm Imelda primarily impacted southeast Texas, including the greater Houston area, through Thursday, September 19.
Current tallies place Tropical Storm Imelda as the fifth wettest tropical system tropical system to impact the continental United States and the seventh wettest tropical storm in U.S. history, producing up to 43 inches of rain in some places. This storm comes just 25 months after Hurricane Harvey impacted southeast Texas with 60 inches of rain, resulting in widespread flooding and damage throughout the greater Houston area.
As stated in a previous Weekly Weather Event, tropical storms and hurricanes are dangerous regardless of strength. Tropical storms and hurricanes are classified by windspeed, with each category separated by winds of varying speeds. Unlike hurricanes, however, tropical storms tend to be moved by slower moving winds near the surface. Typically, slower moving storms produce more rain than fast moving storms, which can result in widespread flooding as rivers spill their banks and drainage systems can’t keep up with the water.