First Named Storm of Season Is 'Right on Schedule'

This year's hurricane season could break records but the first named storm hasn't arrived unusually early. A storm off the coast of Mexico became Tropical Storm Alberto Wednesday morning and it is expected to bring at least a foot of rain to parts of Mexico and Texas, the New York Times reports. "The heavy rainfall and the water, as usual, is the biggest story in tropical storms," says Michael Brennan, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center, per the AP. Brennan says that on average, the first named Atlantic storm arrives on June 20, so Alberto is "about right on schedule."

Heavy rain is expected along the Texas coast from Houston southward throughout Wednesday, the Times reports. Widespread flooding is expected in Corpus Christi, among other areas, and the National Weather Service said early Wednesday that there had already been reports of coastal flooding, NBC News reports. Alberto is expected to make landfall in northeast Mexico late Wednesday or early Thursday, but in an update Wednesday morning, the NHC said people shouldn't focus on the exact forecast track. "The disturbance is very large with rainfall, coastal flooding, and wind impacts likely to occur far from the center along the coasts of Texas and northeastern Mexico,'" the hurricane center said. (More tropical storms stories.)