Don is forecast to make landfall along the southern coast of Texas early tonight. As it moves inland tonight into Saturday, severe thunderstorms and a few tornadoes are possible.

Because Don is expected to be relatively weak at the time of landfall as far as tropical cyclones go, the severity of steady winds and coastal flooding is expected to be minimal.

The latest statistics on Don are available at the AccuWeather.com Hurricane CenterYou don't necessarily need a powerful hurricane to have some sort of trouble.

Wind, Thunderstorms

As Don moves inland and begins to unravel, localized heavy, gusty thunderstorms are likely to be generated. It is possible a few communities will be slammed fairly hard by a severe thunderstorm.

In the situation of a strong tropical storm or minimal hurricane, most of the wind gusts are concentrated in the spiral bands.

Since Don is forecast to be on the weaker end of the spectrum, the wind field should fall apart rather quickly. We should not have the situation of damaging winds over a thousand miles from the point of landfall.

Tornado Risk

A few weak tornadoes could be generated in the thunderstorms that develop after landfall or within the diminishing spiral bands during landfall.

Good Rain, Bad Rain

The prospect of rainfall along the path of Don is glorious with the potential for a general 1 to 4 inches.

Unfortunately, the nature of tropical systems is to bring not only beneficial rain, but also the potential for flooding. While many people may be revelling in the rain during the first part of the weekend, a few could be hit with damage or worse.

If your area is prone to flooding during heavy thunderstorms, take some preventative measures. Don't leave your car parked in a low-lying area of a parking lot or street!

Since Don is likely to be on the lower end of the tropical cyclone spectrum at landfall, dissipation of the rain area may occur rapidly as it moves inland.

Coastal Flooding

The stronger a system is at landfall or one that is in a strengthening phase at landfall, the greater the risk of more nasty consequences, such as storm surge.

At this time, we do not expect a storm surge of more than a few feet. Depending on how the wind is funneled on shore, some back bay areas and bayous could have a greater surge.

The water in the western Gulf of Mexico is fairly warm at a deep level.

As a result, some last-minute strengthening of Don is possible before landfall. Therefore, Don should be a strong tropical storm at landfall.

Have a plan in place or take preventative measures if you live along the coast, especially if you live on a barrier island along the southern coast of Texas.

Not Just Don

There has been talk on the media that Don is a small system and this is true.

However, clusters of potentially damaging, drenching thunderstorms can occur well away from the center and can be associated partially from another system, say a tropical warm front.

At this point, we do not expect another Ike, just don't throw precaution to the wind!