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Hurricane Central

Tropical Storm Beta Brought Flooding Rain From Texas to Mississippi, Including the Houston Metro

By weather.com meteorologists

September 24, 2020

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At a Glance

  • Tropical Storm Beta was a slow-mover out of the western Gulf of Mexico.
  • Over 10 inches of rain fell over parts of southeast Texas, including Houston.
  • Beta also produced coastal flooding as far east as Mississippi.
  • Beta's locally flooding rain stretched into Arkansas and Mississippi.
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Tropical Storm Beta spun up in the Gulf of Mexico, then brought flooding rain from Texas into the lower Mississippi Valley, including the Houston metro area.

Tropical Depression Twenty-Two formed in the southwest Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 17, 2020, and strengthened into Tropical Storm Beta the following day, one of three named storms to form in just six hours on Sept. 18.

Beta's maximum sustained winds reached a peak of 60 mph as it tracked through the western Gulf of Mexico. The storm weakened prior to landfall because of unfavorable upper-level winds and dry air.

Maximum sustained winds were 45 mph when Beta made landfall along the southern end of the Matagorda Peninsula in Texas on the night of Sept. 21.

Bands of heavy rain caused significant flooding along the upper Texas coast Sept. 21 into Sept. 22, particularly in southern parts of the Houston metro area.

Several locations on the southside of Houston picked up more than 10 inches of rainfall. The maximum storm total was 14.40 inches near Brookside Village. Beta was Houston Hobby Airport's fifth heaviest three-day rain event since 1930.

Over 100 high-water rescues were needed Sept. 22 in southern Harris County, according to local law enforcement. Some homes were flooded, as well.

(LATEST: Beta Brings Flooding to Houston Area)

Beta's remnants triggered localized flash flooding on Sept. 23 as heavy rain spread into the lower Mississippi Valley.

One to two feet of water was reported over streets in McGehee, Arkansas. Five inches of rain fell in 12 hours in Watson, Arkansas. Moderate street flooding was reported in downtown Greenville, Mississippi.

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Coastal flooding from Beta's storm surge arrived on Sept. 19 along parts of the Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi coasts.

A storm surge between 3 to 4 feet was measured on Sept. 21 along the upper Texas coast near Galveston Bay. The gauges indicated that this amount of water rise resulted in major coastal flooding for some areas.

San Luis Pass, Texas, had a peak storm surge of 4.15 feet on Sept. 21.

Modest surge flooding was also reported along Corpus Christi Bay, in Port O'Connor and southwest of Freeport, Texas, among other locations on Sept. 21.

Storm tides at Port Isabel, Texas, were highest since Hurricane Ike in 2008, according to the NWS-Brownsville, Texas.

Peak surge inundation reached just over 3 feet in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, hammered by the destructive surge and winds from Hurricane Laura in August.

There's was also coastal flooding in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi, reaching moderate levels in some areas.

This required the closing of Louisiana state Highway 1 in Golden Meadow, as well as some roads around Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, the eastbank of Lower St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes, and in Hancock County, Mississippi.

The peak wind gust measured on land was 59 mph at Lolita, Texas, just after midnight Sept. 22.

Port O'Connor, Texas, clocked a 55 mph gust while Victoria, Texas, recorded a peak wind gust to 52 mph in the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 22.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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