Tropical Storm Edouard Making Landfall in Texas

Tropical Storm Edouard, which formed Sunday, August 3 in the Gulf of Mexico and began lashing the Louisiana coast with rain and wind, made landfall along the Texas coastline Tuesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

With maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, Edouard is a powerful storm, but still about 10 mph short of hurricane strength. Forecasters had been saying since Sunday that the storm could reach hurricane strength just before landfall.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect from Grand Isle, La. to Sargent, Texas, and hurricane watch remains for Intracoastal City, La. to Sargent, Texas. Tropical Storm Edouard is expected to drop 3-5 inches of rain over a wide area, and as much as 10 inches in some spots. It could also spawn tornadoes.

Houston and surrounding communities were preparing for flooding.

Edouard is the fifth named storm of 2008 in the Atlantic basin, which includes the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Forecasters have predicted an above-average hurricane season for the Atlantic, where the storms most damaging to the U.S. form, could spawn 12 to 16 named storms, including six to nine hurricanes and as many as five major hurricanes.

The first tropical storm of the Atlantic season, Arthur, brought punishing rains to parts of Central America June 1, right in time for the official start of the hurricane season. Hurricane Bertha followed, the longest-lived tropical storm on record in July. Hurricane Dolly dumped copious rain on Texas and neighboring states, leading to flooding and costly damage in some communities.

The eastern Pacific Ocean has seen seven named storms, four of them hurricanes.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center have predicted that conditions will spawn a below-average storm season in the eastern Pacific, with 11-16 named storms, including five to eight hurricanes, as many as three of them major (Category 3 or greater) storms.