It's over – 4324 day major hurricane drought ends as Harvey makes landfall at Cat 4

(Edited/updated) From NHC:

…EYE OF CATEGORY 4 HARVEY MAKES LANDFALL BETWEEN PORT ARANSAS AND

PORT O’CONNOR TEXAS…

…CATASTROPHIC FLOODING EXPECTED DUE TO HEAVY RAINFALL AND STORM

SURGE..

DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK

——————————

At 1000 PM CDT (0300 UTC), the center of Hurricane Harvey was

located near latitude 28.0 North, longitude 97.0 West. Harvey has

just made landfall on the Texas coast over the northern end of San

Jose Island about 4 miles (6 km) east of Rockport. Harvey is

moving toward the northwest near 7 mph (11 km/h). The hurricane is

expected to slow its forward motion and move slowly over

southeastern Texas during the next couple of days.

Maximum sustained winds are near 130 mph (215 km/h) with higher

gusts. Harvey is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson

Hurricane Wind Scale. Weakening is forecast during the next 48

hours while the center of Harvey is over southeastern Texas.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles (65 km) from the

center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles

(220 km). A Texas Coastal Ocean Observing Network station at

Aransas Pass recently reported sustained winds of 111 mph (178 km/h)

and a wind gust of 131 mph (211 km/h).

The minimum central pressure just reported by an Air Force Reserve

Hurricane Hunter aircraft is 938 mb (27.70 inches).

Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 ending the “major hurricane drought” we have been experiencing in the USA.

#GOES16 captured this geocolor imagery of #Harvey as it nears landfall on the Texas coast. Get the latest info @ https://t.co/cSGOfrM0lG pic.twitter.com/u0O9ChtJeP

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) August 26, 2017

#GOES16 captured this geocolor imagery of #Harvey2017 – now a category 3 storm – this afternoon. Latest info @ https://t.co/cSGOfrM0lG pic.twitter.com/hGD22NpNTG

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) August 25, 2017

It is now 4324 days since Category 3 Hurricane Wilma made landfall in Florida on October 24th, 2005.

https://twitter.com/RogerPielkeJr/status/900740028665671680