UPDATE: 8:06 p.m. - Harvey has been officially downgraded to a tropical depression, with 35 mile per hour winds and minimum central pressure at 998 mb.
Harvey is gradually weakening as the center moves farther inland, with the winds near the center diminishing and the central pressure rising.
- Tropical storm Harvey makes landfall in southwestern Louisiana
- Harvey expected to weaken to tropical depression tonight
- Heavy rain, flooding still a risk for Louisiana, Texas
- Our sister stations in Austin and San Antonio are providing continuous coverage of Harvey throughout the event. For more details on the impacts in those areas, visit the Spectrum News Austin and Spectrum News San Antonio websites.
However, surface observations indicate a band of tropical storm winds over the Gulf of Mexico well to the southeast of the center, and this is the basis for keeping Harvey a tropical storm.
It should weaken to a depression in less than 12 hours, and continued slow weakening is anticipated as it dissipates completely between 72-96 hrs.
The forecast weakening will not eliminate the risk of continued heavy rainfall and flooding along Harvey's path.
Ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding will continue across southeastern Texas. According to AP, 18 people have been killed by Harvey since Friday.
While the threat of heavy rains has ended in the Houston/Galveston area, catastrophic and life-threatening flooding will continue in and around Houston eastward into southwest Louisiana for the rest of the week.
The flood threat has spread farther east, and additional rainfall accumulations of 3 to 6 inches with isolated amounts up to 10 inches are expected from southwestern Louisiana and the adjacent border of eastern Texas northeastward into western Kentucky through Friday.
Earlier Wednesday morning, the center has crossed the coast just west of Cameron with most of the associated deep convection located over extreme southeastern Texas and western Louisiana.
6 A.M. WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE
The storm came ashore just west of Cameron, Louisiana, bringing maximum sustained winds near 45 mph. Harvey had lingered over Texas for days before meandering back into the Gulf of Mexico.
Although the rain has ended in the Houston/Galveston area, the Beaumont/Port Arthur area was particularly hard hit overnight, with about 12.5 inches reported at the Jack Brooks Regional Airport since Tuesday evening.
Harvey has turned north-northeastward and is moving a little faster this morning.
Now that Harvey's center is moving inland, the winds should gradually decrease during the next few days. Harvey is likely to weaken to a tropical depression by tonight.
This weakening will not eliminate the risk of continued heavy rainfall and flooding along Harvey's path, although the system's faster motion will prevent rainfall totals from being anywhere near what occurred over southeastern Texas.
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- Our sister stations in Austin and San Antonio are providing continuous coverage of Harvey throughout the event. For more details on the impacts in those areas, visit the Spectrum News Austin and Spectrum News San Antonio websites.
Ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding will continue across southeastern Texas. While the threat of heavy rains has ended in the Houston/Galveston area, catastrophic and life- threatening flooding will continue in and around Houston eastward into southwest Louisiana for the rest of the week.
Isolated storm totals have reached 50 inches over the upper Texas coast, including the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area.
The flood threat has spread farther east, and additional rainfall accumulations of 3 to 6 inches with isolated amounts up to 10 inches are expected from southwestern Louisiana and the adjacent border of eastern Texas northeastward into western Kentucky through Friday.
• What exactly are the spaghetti plots?
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Remember that the spaghetti model plot does not indicate the strength of a system or even development at all. It only predicts where this broad area of low pressure is expected to go.