Tropical Storm Nicholas forms in Gulf of Mexico

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Nicholas was expected to strengthen as it headed for the Gulf Coast on Sunday, threatening heavy rain and floods in coastal areas of Texas, Mexico and Louisiana.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said a hurricane watch and storm surge warning were issued for a portion of Texas, while tropical storm warnings were issued for coastal areas of Texas. Nicholas is expected to produce total rainfall of 5 to 10 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches, across portions of coastal Texas into southwest Louisiana on Sunday through midweek. The hurricane watch was issued for the coast of Texas from Port Aransas to Sargent.

The storm was expected to bring the heaviest rainfall west of where Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana two weeks ago. Although forecasters did not expect Louisiana to suffer from strong winds again, meteorologist Bob Henson at Yale Climate Connections predicted rainfall could still plague places where the hurricane toppled homes and left at least 26 people dead.

“There could be several inches of rain across southeast Louisiana, where Ida struck,” Henson said.

The storm is projected to move slowly up the coastland which could dump torrential amounts of rain over several days, said meteorologist Donald Jones of the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The storm has the potential to dump as much as 15 to 25 inches of rain in isolated areas either in southeast Texas or southwest Louisiana, he said.