Center of Don Approaching Texas Coast - Winds Tame So Far

The above image was taken just a moment ago from the Brownsville, TX radar. The small red dot in the middle of the white circle shows the approximate location of the center of Tropical Storm Don at 5:45 pm CDT.  This position is about 25 miles off of the Texas coast.  Based on the movement of Don on the 4pm CDT National Hurricane center advisory (West/Northwest at 16 mph), we can expect landfall of the center about 40 miles South of Corpus Christi, along South Padre Island, during the 7 o'clock hour this evening.

I've been monitoring surface observations along the coast and on the data buoys out in the Gulf of Mexico, and thus far nothing too impressive has been recorded wind-wise.  There is a buoy about 15 miles South of the center, and so far the maximum wind speed it has recorded has been 21 mph.  Similar observations have been made along the immediate coastal bend during the last hour or so.

None-the-less, hurricane hunter aircraft measurements along with satellite and radar estimates indicate that steady winds of 40-50 mph with gusts of 60-65 mph are taking place near the center of Don.  This portion of the system will make landfall in a relatively unpopulated region, along South Padre island, about 40 miles South of Corpus Christi and 65-70 miles North of Brownsville. 

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