An exceptionally busy Atlantic hurricane season was churning along Saturday morning as the Texas coast prepared for a tropical storm that's forecast to strengthen into a hurricane before breaching its shores in the week ahead.
Tropical Storm Beta was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, 245 miles (470 kilometers) south of Lake Charles, Louisiana, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The system was forecast to become a hurricane on Sunday and had already triggered a hurricane watch from Port Aransas, Texas, to High Island, Texas and a tropical storm watch from Port Aransas to Intracoastal City, Louisiana.
Also in effect were a storm surge watch from Port Mansfield, Texas to Cameron, Louisiana; and a tropical storm watch from south of Port Arkansas to the mouth of the Rio Grande, and east of High Island to Morgan City, Louisiana.
Beta had maximum sustained winds at 60 mph (95 kph) and was moving northwest at 3 mph (13 kph).
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Forecasters were predicting up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) of storm surge along parts of the Texas coast that included Baffin Bay, Corpus Christi Bay, Galveston Bay and more. Wind, heavy rainfall and life-threatening surf and rip current conditions were also expected with the storm.
Forecasters ran out of traditional storm names on Friday, forcing the use of the Greek alphabet for only the second time since the 1950s.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Teddy remained a powerful hurricane Saturday, with maximum sustained winds at 120 mph. Teddy was centered 560 miles (1,045 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda less than a week after Hurricane Paulette made landfall in the wealthy British territory.
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A tropical storm warning was in effect for Bermuda. Large swells from Teddy were forecast to impact the Lesser Antilles, the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas and Bermuda, and were expected to impact the U.S. East Coast.
Parts of the Alabama coast and Florida Panhandle were still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Sally, which roared ashore on Wednesday. At least two deaths were blamed on the system, and hundreds of thousands of people were still without power late Friday.
Alpha dissipated Friday night after bringing rain to Portugal. Tropical Storm Wilfred remained at sea but was not expected to impact land and weaken in the coming days.
Saturday, another system in the Atlantic was given a 50 percent chance of development in the next five days with forecasters saying it is no risk to South Florida at this time. A system that has not left the coast of Africa yet has a 10 percent chance of development.
