Busy tropical weather picture for the Valley

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) - First a major hurricane, now a tropical depression. Both add up to a really hectic tropical forecast.

What was tropical invest 94 is now tropical depression 3 nearly 500 miles southeast of the Valley, down around Veracruz, Mexico. This weak system is expected to barely reach tropical storm force before making landfall overnight, just past midnight, north of Veracruz. There doesn't seem to be any significant threat from this event for the Valley only a few pockets of showers ending before dawn Monday.

The real focus of the tropical story is major hurricane Beryl. This storm is packing winds of 130 mph to reach category four status and it is moving west at 18 mph. Beryl will plow through the windward islands Monday.

Later in the week Beryl will sail past Jamaica about Wednesday. The storm should decrease intensity a bit as it pushes west to the Yucatan Peninsula by Friday as a category 2 storm. Beryl will be diminished by the mountains of the Yucatan to a tropical storm before spitting out into the southwest Gulf of Mexico late Friday.

There is no reliable way to say if Beryl is heading to the Valley a week from now. Some forecast solutions hint at that but it is just too far out to be certain. Now is the time to make sure your hurricane plan is in order in case the RGV ends up in the path of Beryl.