Tropical Storm — Kenedy, Texas

2017-08-25 · Kenedy, Texas

Event narrative

Tropical storm force sustained winds (39 to 51 mph with gusts to 63 mph) arrived along and up to 10 to 15 miles (estimated) from the shoreline of Kenedy County during the afternoon of August 25, and likely continued across the north half of this area through sunset or just beyond as Hurricane Harvey scooted by some 80 (south) to 60 (north) miles of the shoreline. The Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON) sites at Rincon del San Jose and Baffin Bay - shoreline proxies to the coastline, reported sustained winds of 39 mph and 51 mph, respectively, with gusts to 47 and 63 mph, respectively. No wind damage was reported over the largely unpopulated region.

While a storm surge estimated at up to 2 feet run up to and into the dunes along the barrier island, there were no indications from aerial photography of any new breaches or significant flooding or erosion.

Wider weather episode

Rapidly intensifying Hurricane Harvey moved along the outer edge of the Lower Texas Coastal waters from the pre-dawn hours through the mid afternoon of August 25th. Harvey began the period as a Category 2 storm and was a mid range Category 3 storm as it headed toward the Texas Coastal Bend region, where it would make landfall as a 938 mb Category 4 wrecking ball near Rockport.

The outskirts of Harvey produced tropical storm force gusts measured and estimated at 41 to 46 mph on South Padre Island to the western shoreline of Laguna Madre, in Cameron County, with gusts from 48 to 63 mph along the coast of Kenedy County, including the Laguna Madre shoreline. Here, sustained tropical storm force winds of 39 to 51 mph were reported at shoreline buoys. No damage was reported in these areas, which are vastly unpopulated.

Within the tropical storm force (sustained) wind area, other impacts included nuisance tidal overwash that ran into the dunes on the barrier island (South Padre and the Padre Island National Seashore north of Port Mansfield), with storm surge measured at 1.77 feet above predicted tide. At Baffin Bay, the tide level peaked at 1.77 feet above Mean Sea Level, which likely equated to 2 feet of storm surge (based on similar reports farther south). No damage or beach erosion was reported at the Cameron County public and resort areas of South Padre, but there may have been minor erosion along the Kenedy County coast. Backside northwest to west flow during the evening of the 25th, well after Harvey had passed north of the Lower Texas coast, trapped or enhanced water levels for one final high tide cycle during the evening especially along west-facing shores of Laguna Madre.

The heaviest rainfall spared most of the Lower Texas coast, with the highest reported at the cooperative site 7 miles east of Sarita (northeast Kenedy) with only 2.27 inches. Bias corrected radar indicated a sliver of 3 to 4 inches near Baffin Bay and the Gulf intersection at the northeast tip of Kenedy County, which was absorbed easily on sandy soil.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 720930. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.