Tropical Rainstorm Bertha spreads rain into Texas
The storm moved ashore along the Texas-Louisiana border on Thursday afternoon, with flooding rain expected to last through early Friday
Impacts from Bertha were fairly limited on July 22, but its storm surge did cause significant coastal flooding across Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
Following its first landfall in far eastern portions of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, Wednesday afternoon and a second landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border Thursday, Tropical Rainstorm Bertha is now tracking across South Texas, where downpours will be felt through early Friday.
Even though Bertha is far from some of the powerhouse hurricanes that have struck the central Gulf Coast over the years, its impacts from heavy rain should not be taken lightly.
This image of the Gulf was captured as Tropical Storm Bertha made a second U.S. landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border on Thursday afternoon, July 23, 2026. The center of Bertha was located just to the northeast of the colorful clouds due to northerly wind shear. (AccuWeather Enhanced RealVue™ Satellite)
Bertha is what AccuWeather meteorologists refer to as a homebrew tropical storm because it formed within a few hundred miles of the United States coast—in this case, over the northeastern Gulf. This particular area was under AccuWeather's watchful eye for well over a week before the storm formed.
"The center of Bertha spent a brief amount of time off the Louisiana coast Wednesday night into Thursday before moving onshore once more near the Texas-Louisiana border around 2 p.m. ET Thursday," AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said.
As of early Thursday evening, Bertha had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph with a low-level circulation west of Houston, Texas. Similar to most of the storm's life cycle, this circulation has remained separated from most of the thunderstorms to the south.
As the storm continues to track westward, some changes in the structure of the storm's showers and thunderstorms are likely, with bands of heavy rain forecast to move across South Texas, DaSilva stated.
A swath of 1-2 inches can fall across portions of southern Texas before the storm dissipates Friday evening. Downpours and localized flash flooding can also extend into the mountainous terrain of northern Mexico.
Bertha is a less than one on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes.
DaSilva noted that in the wake of Bertha, no additional tropical development is expected across the Atlantic Basin through the rest of July. However, AccuWeather hurricane experts will keep a close eye on the waters of the eastern Gulf and southern Atlantic Seaboard for potential tropical development during the first half of August.
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