On Thursday, Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall near Tampico, Mexico, kicking off the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season as the first named storm.
The tropical storm had maximum sustained winds of around 45 mph and was named on Wednesday morning as it began making its way across the Gulf of Mexico, according to Accuweather.
The storm made landfall just after the sun rose on Thursday, and it is expected to move inland and advance slowly before unwinding on Friday.
Alberto was quickly downgraded to a tropical depression around mid-morning on Thursday as it started moving west at 18 mph with sustained winds of 35 mph.
Alberto is still expected to bring a serious amount of rainfall even though it has already been downgraded by the National Hurricane Center.
AccuWeather Meteorologist and Lead Hurricane Forecaster Alex DaSilva said that conditions in the area allowed the storm to heighten into a tropical storm.
“Abnormally warm waters and a pocket of relatively low wind shear located in the Bay of Campeche allowed Alberto to gain enough organization on Wednesday to be upgraded to tropical storm status,” DaSilva said.
Southern Texas is expected to see rainfall brought by the storm, with as high as 8-12 inches potentially falling over the Big Bend area of Texas.
With Alberto kicking off the hurricane season, meteorologists will keep their eyes peeled on the Atlantic Ocean as potential storms ramp up.
So far, nothing of substance appears to be on the radar at the National Hurricane Center.