Hurricane Dolly, after days of ingesting humid, energy-rich Gulf air over bathtub warm
waters, roared onto South Padre Island in Texas with 100 m.p.h. winds at 1 p.m.
Wednesday. In so doing, it became the first hurricane to make landfall on the U.S.
mainland since Hurricane Humberto moved ashore on the Texas/Louisiana border Sept.
13, 2007. Dolly pounded south Texas with rain in amounts that reached 12.85 inches at
Harlingen by nightfall Wednesday. The storm's 80 m.p.h. gusts whipped Padre Island,
transforming adjacent Gulf waters into an angry caldron and producing extensive
damage from the area's beaches to the inland community of Raymondville. Rainfall at
Brownsville topped a half-foot making it the wettest July on record. Concern turned to
the potential for serious inland flooding as the storm moved deeper into the Texas Hill
Country.
SHIFTS IN LONGER RANGE COMPUTER RAIN FORECASTS BEING MONITORED
Earlier forecasts play up dry weather for Chicago, but the latest longer-range forecasts
are hinting at a shift to wetter weather here that could begin as early as late Sunday
with another round of precipitation next week.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
