TS Beta expected to strengthen to a hurricane before hitting Gulf Coast

By WRAL Severe Weather Center

Tropical Storm Beta is in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to strengthen to a Category 1 Hurricane by Saturday. When it does, it will bring storm surge, flooding and strong winds to the coast of Louisiana and Texas.

Beta is bringing winds of about 60 miles per hour and is moving at about 8 mph, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center. The storm is expected to slow down even more before it reaches shore, WRAL meteorologist Peta Sheerwood said.

It could make landfall sometime Monday and bring rain into already water-logged areas.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for the Bermuda ahead of Hurricane Teddy. The center of the Category 3 cane is forecast to move east of the Bermuda late Sunday or Monday.

Hurricane Teddy is not expected to impact North Carolina, but is expected to impact portions of Atlantic Canada early next week. Residents there are warned to monitor the storm for rain, wind and storm surge.

The coast of North Carolina is expected to have life-threatening rip currents over the next couple of days because of Teddy. If you are headed to the beach, make sure to swim near a life guard. If you do get caught in a rip current don’t panic and swim parallel to the shore.

For only the second time in recorded history, all of the possible hurricane names have been used up this season, and we still have 10 weeks to go. We will now switch into using the Greek alphabet for names.