Tropical Storm Beta was a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

that brought heavy rainfall, flooding, and severe weather to the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

in September 2020. The twenty-fourth tropical depression and twenty-third named storm of the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Beta originally formed from a trough of low pressure that developed in the northeastern

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

on September 10. The low moved slowly southwestward, with development hampered initially by the development of nearby Hurricane Sally. After Sally moved inland over the Southeastern United States and weakened, the disturbance became nearly stationary in the southwestern Gulf, where it began to organize. By September 16, the storm had gained a low-level circulation center and had enough organization to be designated as ''Tropical Depression Twenty-Two''. The system held its intensity for a day due to the influence of strong

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

and dry air, before eventually attaining tropical storm strength. It slowly moved northward and intensified to a mid-range tropical storm before dry air and wind shear halted its intensification. Beta then became nearly stationary on September 19, before starting to move west towards the Texas coast the next day, weakening as it approached. On September 21, Beta made landfall near Matagorda Peninsula,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

as a minimal tropical storm. It subsequently weakened to a tropical depression the next day before becoming post-tropical early on September 23. Its remnants moved northeastward, before the center elongated and merged with a

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...

early on September 25. The storm's sprawling nature and slow-movement caused numerous areas along the Gulf Coast to be pounded by heavy surf and high waves for several days, while torrential rainfall and

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

affected areas that were already struggling to recover from previous tropical cyclones, such as Hurricanes Laura and Sally. Several streets, highways, and even interstates in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

were closed due to flooding.

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, the

Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the southwes ...

were all impacted by flooding, gusty winds, and severe weather as well. One fatality in Texas due to Beta's impacts has been confirmed. Total damage from the storm was estimated to be at least $225 million.

Meteorological history

The

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...

(NHC) began to monitor a trough at 12:00 UTC on September 10. Little to no development of the system occurred as it began to slowly turn southwestward and by September 14, it was not expected to become a tropical cyclone due to strong upper-level winds produced by nearby Hurricane Sally. Nonetheless, the disturbance persisted and moved southwestward into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico where it began to organize as Sally moved away into the

early on September 16. The next day, hurricane hunters found a closed circulation, and as thunderstorms persisted near the center, the NHC initiated advisories on Tropical Depression Twenty-Two at 23:00 UTC on September 17. However, post-season analysis revealed that the system had developed into a tropical depression several hours earlier, at 12:00 UTC that day. At 21:00 UTC on September 18, the system strengthened into Tropical Storm Beta, becoming the earliest forming 23rd tropical or subtropical storm on record in an Atlantic hurricane season, surpassing the old mark of October 22, established by Tropical Storm Alpha of

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. Although affected by wind shear and dry air, the storm continued to intensify, reaching a peak intensity of and a pressure of 994 mb (29.36 inHg) at 15:00 UTC on September 19. However, it became nearly stationary after turning westward over the Gulf of Mexico. This caused

upwelling Upwelling is an physical oceanography, oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water from deep water towards the ocean surface. It replaces the warmer and usually nutrient-depleted sur ...

and the continued negative effects of dry air and wind shear caused the storm to become disorganized, although its wind speeds remained the same thanks to an

outflow boundary An outflow boundary, also known as a gust front, is a storm-scale or mesoscale meteorology, mesoscale boundary separating thunderstorm-cooled air (Outflow (meteorology), outflow) from the surrounding air; similar in effect to a cold front, with ...

. After jogging northeastward, Beta's convection continued to wax and wane as the storm moved west-northwest with the center reforming to the west. Beta's structure further degraded as stable cold-air stratocumulus clouds wrapped around its center. As Beta approached the

coast, it weakened some before making landfall on the Matagorda Peninsula at 04:00 UTC on September 22 with winds of and a pressure of . Afterwards, Beta weakened some more, falling to tropical depression status at 15:00 UTC. It then became nearly stationary again before turning east and weakening some more, causing the NHC to issue their final advisory and giving future advisory responsibilities to the Weather Prediction Center (WPC). Beta then became a post-tropical cyclone at 03:00 UTC on September 23 and accelerated northeastward, passing through

and

into Northern Alabama. The center became less defined and the heavy rainfall threat diminished, and the system dissipated at 06:00 UTC on September 25. Subsequently, the WPC issued their final advisory at 09:00 UTC that day.

Preparations and impact

Tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its lo ...

, hurricane, and storm surge watches were issued along a large portion of the coastline from the

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

border to south central

in advance of the storm. The hurricane watches were later dropped when the storm failed to strengthen past 60 mph, but most of the other watches were upgraded to warnings. Several voluntary evacuations were issued by city and county governments over concerns of particularly vulnerable areas around

and

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. Flood warnings and watches of various types were issued throughout Texas and Louisiana as the storm approached coastal Texas and then made landfall. As the storm moved inland into Louisiana, a tornado watch was issued for the southern and eastern part of the state as well as Southern Mississippi. Beta 19-23Sep2020

On September 18, prior to the system being upgraded into a tropical storm, a Hurricane Hunter mission which started at Keesler Air Force Base in

was aborted when lightning from the system struck the Lockheed WC-130J Hercules sent to gather data causing the plane's

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

systems to go down, endangering the occupants of the flight. A tornado warning was issued for Galveston County, Texas on the afternoon of September 21, although no tornadoes was confirmed. A number of flash flood warnings were also issued as rainbands began to continually move over the same areas. On September 23, favorable atmospheric conditions led to a flurry of tornado,

severe thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

and special marine warnings as the remnants of the storm moved through Louisiana and into Mississippi, but again no tornadoes were confirmed. Coastal Flooding from Tropical Storm Beta

Coastal Flooding from Tropical Storm Beta

Heavy surf and high waves from Beta destroyed part of a pier in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

while storm surge flooding left many areas of the Texas coast under water. Around the time of landfall, a wind gust of was recorded in Port Lavaca. Parts of

I-69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canada–United States border, Canadian border in Po ...

and TX 288 were closed by flooding and high water rescue teams responded to dozens of calls for help. By the time Beta had weakened to a tropical depression on September 22, over 100 high-water rescues had taken place in

as portions of the city became heavily inundated by the storm's high rainfall totals, exceeding in parts of the city. Dozens of streets and highways in the city, including parts of I-69, I-45, and TX 288 and 290, were closed by fast-rising water. Officials urged residents to stay home and avoid driving if possible. The sprawling nature of the storm also brought heavy rainfall to Louisiana, which was still recovering from a number of other systems that had affected the state during the season. Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued disaster declarations for 29 counties, while Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

. A missing fisherman who had gone into Brays Bayou during the storm was later discovered drowned. Heavy rainfall, flooding, and gusty winds also impacted Mississippi,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, and

. The remnants of the storm fueled a small severe weather event across the

on September 25 with severe thunderstorms producing wind damage and unusually significant hail up to in diameter. An EF0 tornado was also confirmed in

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the "Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

as well, although it was not directly associated with the storm.

Naming

The 2020 season was the second (along with 2005) in which an alphabetic list of 21 storm names had been exhausted, necessitating use of the

Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as wel ...

auxiliary list. In March 2021, the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

replaced that auxiliary list with a new 21-name supplemental list. As a result, the letter ''Beta'' will not be used to name another

Atlantic hurricane An Atlantic hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean primarily between June and November. The terms "hurricane", "typhoon", and "cyclone, tropical cyclone" can be used interchangeably to describe this weather ph ...

Notes

References

External links