Arthur Drenches Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Arthur formed Wednesday near the Texas Gulf Coast as the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, quickly bringing heavy rain and flooding threats to Texas, Louisiana and the broader Southeast. The National Hurricane Center tracked the storm near the northwestern Gulf, with reports placing it near Galveston and west-southwest of Lake Charles as maximum sustained winds reached around 45 mph. Forecasters warned that Arthur’s slow movement and disorganized but rain-heavy structure could produce dangerous, potentially life-threatening flash flooding from the Gulf Coast into the Mississippi River Valley. Some meteorologists noted Arthur developed partly from remnants of eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Christina, underscoring an unusual cross-basin origin as the Atlantic season opened.