🌧️ The Remains of Edouard Just Won't Give Up!

The remains of Tropical Storm Edouard are still looking incredibly impressive on the radar this morning.

Normally, once a tropical system moves inland, you expect it to weaken fairly quickly. The circulation begins to fall apart, the thunderstorms diminish, and eventually the whole thing becomes just another area of rain.

But Edouard?

It just doesn't want to quit!

This system is still very well organized across Texas this morning, with a tight circulation and intense bands of thunderstorms producing extremely heavy rainfall.

And unfortunately, that is creating some very dangerous flash flooding, particularly across portions of eastern Texas.

So Why Is Edouard Still So Well Organized?

That's the fascinating part.

One of the biggest reasons is simply the amount of heat and moisture available across Texas.

Dew points are well into the 70s, temperatures are in the 80s and 90s, and the atmosphere is absolutely loaded with moisture.

Remember, a tropical system is essentially a heat engine.

It feeds on warm, moist air.

And right now, Edouard has plenty of that available.

Even though the system is over land, it is still sitting in an environment that is incredibly warm and humid. That allows the thunderstorms surrounding the circulation to continue producing tremendous amounts of latent heat.

That heat helps maintain the pressure falls and circulation within the system.

And that's why this thing hasn't simply fallen apart.

And Believe It Or Not... It Still Has An Eye!

Here's the really crazy part.

Edouard still has an eye-like feature on radar.

We're talking nearly 18 hours after landfall, and the circulation is still remarkably tight.

You can actually see that circular structure continuing to show up in the radar presentation.

That's pretty impressive for a tropical system that has been over land for this long.

I've seen systems do this before.

If the environment is warm enough, humid enough, and the circulation happens to remain in the right location, a tropical system can sometimes maintain its structure much longer than you would normally expect.

The thunderstorms continue to rotate around the center.

The latent heat release continues.

The circulation remains intact.

And the whole system can maintain that almost tropical-cyclone appearance even though it's now well inland.

A Storm Reminiscent Of Alicia

In some ways, this reminds me of Hurricane Alicia many years ago, when a cluster of thunderstorms came off the Louisiana coast and rapidly organized over the Gulf.

The Gulf waters were extremely warm, with temperatures around 90 degrees, providing an enormous amount of heat and moisture for the developing system.

Edouard had a similar situation.

The Gulf of Mexico — or, as I've been calling it, the Gulf of America — is incredibly warm, and the system had plenty of moisture available before making landfall.

And even after landfall, there is still an incredible amount of moisture available in the atmosphere across Texas.

That's allowing the remnants to continue feeding off the warm, humid air.

The Rainfall Is The Big Concern Today

While the tropical-storm designation is obviously gone, the flooding threat is not.

The remnants of Edouard are going to continue producing very heavy rainfall across eastern Texas today.

Areas north of Houston and extending toward Lufkin, Texas, are going to have to watch this system very carefully.

Some locations could receive several inches of additional rainfall, and where thunderstorms repeatedly move over the same areas, flash flooding could become extremely dangerous.

This is one of those situations where the storm may no longer technically be a tropical storm, but the impacts are still very much tropical-storm-like.

Don't Be Surprised If It Hangs On

So don't be surprised if you look at the radar later today and Edouard still looks like Edouard.

I wouldn't be shocked to see that tight circulation center remain identifiable for much of the day.

The atmosphere across Texas is simply too warm and too moist for this thing to disappear immediately.

Eventually, the circulation will weaken.

Eventually, the thunderstorms will diminish.

And eventually, Edouard will become just another remnant low.

But for now?

This thing is hanging on.

And while the meteorological side of this is fascinating to watch, the flooding is no joke.

If you're in eastern Texas, especially north and east of Houston toward Lufkin, stay alert for rapidly rising water and flash flooding today.

It's another fascinating example of how unpredictable and resilient tropical systems can be.

Edouard may be a remnant, but the Weather Madness isn't finished with it yet! 🌧️🌀