Receding flood waters followed up by record-breaking Hurricane Beryl
By Jared Shelton News-Press NOW meteorologist
July has been a busy month in weather for much of the continental U.S. so far, with several anomalous patterns and events spreading various impacts from the heartland to the Gulf Coast.
Flooding was the big story across the mid-Missouri River Valley during the first week of July, after a wet June produced more than double the average rainfall through much of the basin. Heavy rainfall events lingered locally into early July, maintaining moderate flooding along the Missouri River from Omaha, to Kansas City, to St. Louis for at least seven days consecutively, and in some cases over 10 days. The Missouri River reached an Independence Day crest at St. Joseph of just under 23.5 feet, enough to flood lowlands along its banks without causing major problems. The wetter than normal pattern also impacted the Mississippi River, with several days of moderate flooding along its banks as well.
Flood waters have slowly receded this week, and with the southward flow of excess runoff arose another headlining weather event, the landfall of Hurricane Beryl on the Texas coast.
Forming in late June, hurricane Beryl started breaking records early in its lifespan, being the earliest major hurricane storm to ever form in the Atlantic Basin after rapidly intensifying to a category five storm east of the Windward Islands in the tropical Caribbean. By the time Beryl struck the coast of Texas, it was a much weaker category one storm. However, Beryl still had serious consequences for coastal Texas, generating storm surge, inland flooding and wind gusts over 80 miles per hour.
Even after making landfall, the remnants of Beryl continued breaking records, this time in the form of tornadoes. Landfalling tropical systems are known to produce occasional tornado outbreaks across inland areas, as the counterclockwise circulation can create localized windshear under the right conditions, particularly on the right-front quadrant of a remnant tropical cyclone. Beryl did just that, but much like it’s history, to the nth degree.
Over 100 tornado warnings were issued from the Gulf Coast the mid-South thanks to Beryl’s remnants on July 8, the most ever issued on a single day in the month of July nationwide. The National Weather Service in Shreveport, Louisiana, issued a record number of tornado warnings for the forecast area, totaling out to 67, most of which were issued in a 12-hour timespan.
Mid-July is looking to be a bit more tame from the Gulf Coast to the heartland, but not necessarily comfortable, as another wave of stifling heat brings 95-plus degree heat for millions this weekend, and early next week.
