The first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Arthur, developed Wednesday morning over the northwestern Gulf very close to the middle Texas Coast. A Tropical Storm Warning is currently in effect from High Island, Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana, while a Tropical Storm Watch is currently in effect from Sargent, Texas to High Island, Texas.

As of 10:00 a.m. CDT (11:00 a.m. EDT), Tropical Storm Arthur was centered near 28.6°N 95.8°W, and was moving northeastward at approximately 9 mph. Maximum sustained winds were 35 knots (40 mph), with an estimated minimum pressure of 1001 mb. Based on a peak 850 mb flight-level wind of 52 kt from an Air Force Hurricane Hunter, this estimate could be slightly conservative. Arthur, the first named storm of the 2026 season, formed very close to the average first named storm formation date in the North Atlantic, which is June 20. Arthur consists of a broad low-level circulation with some disorganized deep convection to the east of its center, which is a very common structure for early-season Gulf tropical cyclones. The center of Arthur, which is already very close to the coast, is likely to move inland near the Texas-Louisiana border this evening and become a remnant low tomorrow. There is a small chance that Arthur’s remnants could redevelop off the United States east coast this weekend, but that appears unlikely at this time.

The primary threat from Arthur is heavy rainfall, even though it is not a well-organized tropical cyclone. The heaviest rainfall amounts could exceed 5 inches over the next 5 days, per the Weather Prediction Center forecast, with the heaviest rainfall occurring in southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, and the Florida panhandle.