Dolly Eyeing Landfall Wednesday at Texas/Mexico Border as a Hurricane

Tropical Storm Dolly is strengthening in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and is expected to become a hurricane by Wednesday, July 23. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting landfall that day near Brownsville, Texas, which is on the border between Texas and Mexico.

Where is Dolly Now?
At 5:00 a.m. EDT (4:00 a.m. CDT) on Tuesday, July 22, the center of Tropical Storm Dolly was located near latitude 23.3 north and longitude 93.8 west or about 295 miles (475 km) southeast of Brownsville, Texas. Dolly's maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph (95 km/hr) with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast, and Dolly is expected to become a hurricane prior to landfall.

Dolly is moving toward the west near 15 mph (24 km/hr). Later today, July 22, she's expected to turn to the west-northwest is expected later today, then veer northwest on the 23rd. Minimum central pressure is 997 millibars.

Where Are The Warnings Posted?
A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Port O'Connor. There's a warning also for the northeast coast of Mexico from Rio San Fernando, northward to the border between Mexico and the U.S. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area within the next 24 hours.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from north of Port O'Connor to San Luis Pass. A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions (winds between 39-73 mph) are expected within the warning area within the next 24 hours.

What Will Dolly Bring to Texas and Mexico?
Like the Dolly Parton song "Wild Texas Wind" from her "Something Special" album of 1995, Texas and Mexico will likely be experiencing hurricane force winds over the next few days.

The National Hurricane Center expects Dolly to produce total rain accumulations of 4 to 8 inches with isolated amounts of up to 15 inches over much of south Texas and northeastern Mexico over the next few days. Dolly is expected to produce additional amounts of 1 to 3 inches over the Northern Yucatan Peninsula.

Dangerous coastal conditions are expected as Dolly approaches the coast. Coastal storm surge flooding of 4 to 6 feet above normal tide levels along with large and dangerous battering waves can be expected near and to the north of where the center makes landfall.

What Does This NASA Satellite Image Show?
This infrared image of Dolly was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on July 22 at 8:05 UTC (4:05 a.m. EDT) and Dolly is located in the Gulf of Mexico, some 275 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas (at the southern-most tip of the state).

The AIRS images show the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of Dolly. The AIRS data creates an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, all of which are helpful to forecasters.

The infrared signal of the AIRS instrument does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the ocean waters, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.