Texas deluged by Tropical Storm Harvey. Second system still poses threat to Lowcountry

Tropical Storm Harvey continues to drop heavy rain on Texas nearly 36 hours after making landfall late Friday evening, the National Hurricane Center reports.

Harvey is currently moving south-southeast at 1 mph. For comparison, the average human walking speed is roughly 3 mph. Due to this negligible movement, Harvey is expected to remain parked over southeastern Texas until mid-week.

Tropical storm and storm surge warnings are still in effect from Port O’Connor to Sargent, Texas.

The storm is now sporting winds of 45 mph, with gusts up to about 57 mph.

Even as the winds calm, though, the rain remains. More than 24 inches of rain fell in Houston in a span of 24 hours, bringing catastrophic flooding to the area according to the National Weather Service. CNN is reporting that over a thousand people had to be rescued from rising flood waters overnight.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency for 30 counties in advance of Harvey’s landfall and President Trump instituted federal disaster relief on Friday evening.

As Harvey continues battering Texas, a second disturbance continues its gradual northeastern journey across the Florida peninsula. It is expected to emerge in the western Atlantic at some point on Sunday and will then have short time frame in which to develop into a tropical cyclone as it moves up the east coast of the U.S. and merges with a cold front.

Even if it does not develop, it could bring stronger winds, rough surf and an increased rip current risk to the Lowcountry coast, along with a possibility for heavy rain depending on the direction it moves in.

The NHC gives it a 40 percent chance of developing in the next two days and a 50 percent chance in the next five.

Meanwhile, the NHC is tracking a tropical wave that should move over the far eastern Atlantic late Sunday or early Monday. Conditions are ripe for this wave to gradually develop as it moves west at between 15 and 20 mph. It is given a zero percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next two days and a 20 percent chance in the next five.

This story was originally published August 27, 2017 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Texas deluged by Tropical Storm Harvey. Second system still poses threat to Lowcountry."