CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex. (WAND) - After upgrading from a tropical storm to the first Atlantic hurricane of 2020 early Saturday morning, Hurricane Hanna made landfall on the Texas coast and threatened to bring heavy rain, storm surge and possible tornadoes.
Hanna made landfall just after 5 p.m. CST after maximum sustained winds had increased to 90 mph.
A storm surge warning in effect from Baffin Bay to Sargent was extended south of the bay to Port Mansfield, Texas. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Port Mansfield to Port Aransas, while a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Barra el Mezquital, Mexico to Port Mansfield, Texas and Port Aransas to Port O'Connor, Texas.
Storm surge up to six feet was forecast for that area. People were advised to protect life and property from high water.
Tornadoes were also possible Saturday for parts of the lower to middle Texas coastal plain, forecasters said. A hurricane warning remained in effect for Port Mansfield to Mesquite Bay, and a tropical storm warning was still in effect from Barra el Mezquital, Mexico, to Port Mansfield, Texas, and from Mesquite Bay to High Island, Texas.
Forecasters said Hanna could bring 6 to 12 inches of rain through Sunday night — with isolated totals of 18 inches — in addition to coastal swells that could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Gonzalo was still on track to move across the southern Windward Islands on Saturday afternoon or evening. Gonzalo was moving west near 18 mph as of 5 p.m. with maximum sustained winds at 35 mph.
Gonzalo is forecast to bring 1 to 3 inches of rain, with isolated totals of 5 inches.
Gonzalo and Hanna broke the record for the earliest seventh and eighth Atlantic named storms, respectively, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. The previous records were Gert on July 24, 2005, and Harvey on Aug. 3, 2005, Klotzbach said.
Cristobal, Danielle, Edouard and Fay also set records for being the earliest named Atlantic storm for their alphabetic order.
