Harvey Now a Hurricane, Sustained Winds Near 85 MPH

The National Hurricane Center says Harvey is now a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 85 mph and higher gusts.

At 1 pm CDT, the hurricane was located around 335 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, moving in a north-northwest direction at around 10 mph. The storm is expected to turn toward the northwest later in the day and slow down.

By the time it hits the middle Texas coast sometime Friday or early Saturday, Harvey is expected to become a major hurricane, the NHC said.

It’s anticipated that the storm will stall near the middle Texas coast during the weekend.

Currently, hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 90 miles.

Harvey is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 12 to 20 inches and isolated maximum amounts of 30 inches over the middle and upper Texas coast through next Wednesday. Areas in far south Texas and the Texas Hill Country to central Louisiana may receive five to 12 inches of rain. Accumulations of less than 5 inches may extend into other parts of Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley.

Source: National Hurricane Center