Tropical Storm Don headed to U.S.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, July 28 (UPI) -- The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tropical Storm Don will hit the Texas coast near Corpus Christi late Friday or early Saturday morning.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Texas coast from Port Mansfield to San Luis Pass. A tropical storm watch was in effect south of Port Mansfield to the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

Tropical storm force winds extended 85 miles outward from the center of the storm.

The storm was 410 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi and about 365 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, with maximum sustained winds steady at 45 mph, the Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. EDT advisory. It was moving west at 16 mph but was expected to shift to a west-northwest to northwest track Thursday night.

The storm should slowly gain strength over the next 36 hours before making landfall Friday night or Saturday morning, at which time it is expected to weaken.

A storm surge was forecast to raise water levels by as much as 2 feet above ground level, accompanied by large and damaging waves. The storm was expected to bring 3 to 5 inches of desperately needed rain to central Texas.

Tropical Storm Don is the fourth named storm of the 2011 hurricane season.