TD22 STRENGTHENS TO TROPICAL STORM BETA; HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING… Tropical Depression 22 has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Beta this evening as of the 4PM CDT advisory. Beta is centered a few hundred miles east of the Texas & Mexico coastline in the western Gulf of Mexico. Maximum sustained winds are at 40 mph. Tropical Storm Wilfred formed from a tropical wave moving in the central Atlantic Ocean, exhausting all of the alphabetical names on the Atlantic tropical cyclone naming list. Subtropical Storm Alpha formed immediately thereafter near the coast of Portugal and Spain in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean. Thus, TD22 will take the name Beta and be the SECOND-named storm from the Greek Alphabet. Local impacts will be possible next week as Beta or the remnants of the storm move across our region but at this time, significant local impacts in Alabama or northwest Florida do not seem likely.

HURRICANE CREW AIRCRAFT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING OVER NORTHERN GULF… The U.S. Air Force Reconnaissance crew, known as the Hurricane Hunters, started a mission to investigate Tropical Storm Beta a few hours ago. Unfortunately, the plane was struck by lightning early on and the crew had to return to Keesler Air Force Base to check the plane for damage. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the crew landed safely in Biloxi. The next Hurricane Hunter mission to investigate Beta will take off this evening.

TROPICAL STORM BETA TO NOT MOVE MUCH THROUGH WEEKEND… Tropical Storm Beta won’t be moving very much at all in the days ahead. The official forecast from the National Hurricane Center calls for Beta to become a hurricane on Sunday before meandering about 100 miles offshore from the Texas coast, east of Corpus Christi. From there, Beta is expected to weaken somewhat due to more environmental shear in the area with the potential for some land interaction near the Texas coast. Overall, this could be a hefty rain event for areas near Houston and Galveston in the days ahead.

LONG TERM FORECAST FOR BETA… There is better model agreement this evening that Tropical Storm Beta will likely meander in the western Gulf of Mexico before moving northeast next week. It is too early to say whether local impacts in south Alabama and northwest Florida will be possible, but we note that most of the major global models show the system either weakening entirely to our west or potentially moving over our area as a weakening tropical storm or tropical depression – at a QUICK speed. This likely won’t be a Sally repeat where the storm drops 15-20″ of rain. Good news!

HURRICANE TEDDY LIKELY TO PASS JUST EAST OF BERMUDA… Hurricane Teddy remains a powerful, major hurricane this afternoon. Maximum winds are near 130 mph. Teddy is a large hurricane, expected to become even larger over the next 5 days. Tropical storm force winds may be possible in Bermuda as Teddy brushes by the island on Sunday into Monday. Teddy will continue moving north into the northern Atlantic Ocean. A Canadian landfall may happen along the Nova Scotia coast by Tuesday or Wednesday of the upcoming week. Teddy will then move north and east rapidly, becoming extratropical in the process. No direct local impacts are expected due to Teddy in Alabama or northwest Florida.

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I will have more updates later today on Tropical Storm Beta in the Gulf. More updates coming in the RedZone Weather app over the next few hours.

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