HOUSTON, Texas – Cyclone Nicholas, which made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane, downgraded to a tropical depression on Tuesday and is now moving toward Louisiana, a state hit recently by Hurricane Ida.
Nicholas made landfall on the eastern Matagorda Peninsula, west-southwest of Sargent Beach, Texas.
According to the NHC bulletin issued Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. Central Time, the system was located 15 miles west-northwest of Port Arthur, Texas, and 55 miles west of Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The system had maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour and was moving in an east-northeast direction at a forward speed of 6 mph.
There were no advisories or watches in effect.
The weather agency forecasts the storm will now hit the Louisiana coast in the coming days and said it expects flash flooding in the southern part of the country as it continues eastward.
In fact, President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Louisiana and ordered federal aid for this region recently hit by the powerful Hurricane Ida.
The National Weather Service has canceled a flash flood watch for much of the greater Houston area.
Likewise, the tropical storm warning that was in force for the coastal areas of Texas was cancelled.
Nicholas has more than 100,000 customers without power in the Houston area.
THE POSSIBLE PATH OF NICHOLAS
Nicholas is expected to continue to weaken over the next few days until it degenerates to a remnant low between Wednesday and Thursday.
The system was forecast to drop an additional 5 to 10 inches of rain in portions of southern and central Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama and northwestern Florida through early Friday.
Dangerous flash floods could occur, especially in urban areas in these regions.
THIS IS HOW THE SEASON GOES IN THE ATLANTIC
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is at its peak in August and September, so the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, for its acronym in English) recently updated its forecast for the remainder of the year.
The agency indicated that another extremely active season could be in sight with a total of 15 to 21 storms. Of those, between 7 to 10 would be hurricanes and at least 3 to 5 would be of great intensity.
These figures reflect that the hurricane season would be 65% more active than normal, according to said Matthew Rosecrans, a member of NOAA, in a virtual seminar.
Gabriela Dellán, today’s meteorologist, explains to us. To see more from Telemundo, visit https://www.nbc.com/networks/telemundo
The first storm formed early in May, before the official start of the season and was named Ana. Bill, Claudette and Danny followed in June and Elsa arrived in July, which was the first hurricane of 2021 in the Atlantic.
Later Fred was formed, seventh on the list is Grace, eighth was Henri, and ninth was Ida. After Julian’s formation, the next storm was Kate and she was succeeded by Larry, Mindy and now Nicholas.
So far, only Elsa, Grace, Henri, Ida, Larry, and Nicholas have reached hurricane strength.