July 29: Don About to make Landfall

If you look closely, you can see the 'eye' of Don is very small and just to the right of the area around Corpus Christi, TX
Don's rain bands are making their way ashore, as are the heaviest rains right now.

July 29: Tornado Warning- Middletown, NY

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON NY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN ORANGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NEW YORK...

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT...

* AT 453 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR
  MIDDLETOWN...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  GOSHEN...MONTGOMERY AND NEW WINDSOR

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING...DO
NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM FRIDAY
EVENING FOR NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEAST NEW YORK.

July 29 Tropical Noon Update

We are watching a system out in the Atlantic that has potential to become a hurricane that could impact the US.
The system currently has a medium chance of becoming a tropical cyclone over the next 48 hours. However, that chance will likely increase as we move on into Saturday.
Regardless of if this system develops or not, it will likely move west northwestward towards the Caribbean islands, then possibly up the Gulf of Mexico.
We will have more information on this system later today, but we will have limited posting abilities starting Sunday and through the next week. While we monitor the system, you can track Tropical Storm Don as it aims for South Texas to make landfall later tonight. Just click the 'Track the Storm Here' button at the top of the page in the red box.

Tropical Storm Don: How will Don affect the Texas Drought?

The big question throughout Don's existence has been what it will do to the Texas drought.
The thing is, is that the Texas drought is hard as a rock right now. With torrential rainfall in South Texas, all of the water will just flow off the ground since the ground is so hard it cannot absorb the rain. What's needed is a light, continuous rain that will soak into the ground.

There will be significant rain mainly in North Mexico, while Texas will get a very small amount.
In summary, it won't affect the Texas drought majorly.

July 29 Morning Update: Don heads south

Over the night, models began to shift Don further south so that he impacts the southern tip of Texas. Don has strengthened overnight and changed speed.
Since Don pushes the rainfall further south with every shift south and Don is small storm at that, rainfall amounts have significantly decreased in areas that used to be in the line of fire yesterday.

While that chart doesn't give a legend to the colors on the map, we can tell that Mexico will likely get the majority of the rain, with only some portions of Texas getting a bit of rainfall.