Tropical Storm Nicholas was expected to bring high winds and heavy rain to the middle and upper Texas coasts late Monday night and Tuesday, less than two weeks after Hurricane Ida whipped nearby Louisiana.
Nicholas was located about 130 miles (205 km) northeast of Veracruz, Mexico, on Sunday, packing maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 km per hour), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory on Sunday. The Miami-based weather forecaster adding that there is a possibility Texas could see life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall.
The storm is forecast to pass near the Texas cities of Corpus Christie and Galveston, home to many oil refineries and chemical plants.
Earlier this month, the engine of the U.S. offshore energy production struggled with an uneven recovery from Hurricane Ida as a lack of crews, power and fuel left most Gulf Coast oil and gas output offline days after the storm passed.