Port Aransas Hurricane Season Tracker
The live tropical picture for the island — pulled straight from the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service — alongside the storms that shaped Port Aransas and the official resources to get you ready and get you out.
This page is not an official warning source.
Port Aransas Pulse mirrors data published by the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service, but it is not an emergency-management agency. In a storm, always follow the official orders of the City of Port Aransas, Nueces County, and local authorities. When an evacuation is ordered, leave. Do not rely on this page for life-or-death decisions.
Port Aransas is a barrier-island town on the Texas Gulf Coast, and that geography is the whole story when it comes to hurricanes. The island is low, narrow, and fully exposed to the open Gulf of Mexico — the water that both defines life here and, a few times a generation, comes for it. Storm surge, not just wind, is the island's defining hazard: a strong hurricane can push the Gulf across the dunes and into the streets, and the single road-and-ferry connection to the mainland means evacuation has to happen early, before conditions close the exits.
This tracker exists to put the official picture in one place. The live status below comes directly from two government feeds — the National Hurricane Center's active storm list and the National Weather Service's active alerts for the Port Aransas point — checked automatically and stamped with the time we pulled it. We do not write our own forecasts, draw our own cones, or predict where a storm will go. When there is nothing active, this page says so plainly rather than manufacturing drama. The historical record and preparedness resources further down are here year-round, because the best time to know your evacuation route is long before the cone points at the Coastal Bend.
Current tropical status
National Weather Service alerts for Port Aransas
No active watches or warnings are in effect for Port Aransas right now.
Active Atlantic systems (National Hurricane Center)
These are all active named systems in the Atlantic basin — not necessarily a threat to Port Aransas. Watch the National Weather Service alerts above for the island's actual risk, and the NHC forecast cone for where a system is headed.
Max sustained winds: 35 mph
Min pressure: 1005 mb
Center: 28.6N 85.6W
Moving: NW at 3 mph
Latest NHC advisoryThe storms that shaped the island
Port Aransas has been hit, brushed, and evacuated many times. Every figure below is a matter of public record from the National Hurricane Center — its Tropical Cyclone Reports and the HURDAT2 best-track database — not an estimate. Where the historical record does not give a confident wind or pressure figure for an older storm, we leave it out rather than guess.
At Texas landfall
Category 4 hurricane
Max winds
130 mph
Min pressure
937 mb
Landfall
August 25, 2017
near Rockport, Texas — roughly 25 miles up the coast from Port Aransas
Harvey made landfall on the middle Texas coast late on August 25, 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph, the first major hurricane to strike the U.S. since 2005. Port Aransas took the eyewall's core: the storm flattened structures, tore roofs from homes and condos, and left the island without power, water, or sewer service for weeks. The town was placed under a mandatory evacuation and mandatory re-entry restrictions followed for days after. Harvey then stalled over Texas and produced catastrophic, record-setting rainfall and flooding further inland around Houston, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history per NHC's report.
NHC Tropical Cyclone Report — Hurricane Harvey (AL092017)Other notable Coastal Bend storms
Hurricane Hanna (2020)
Category 1 hurricaneJuly 25, 2020 — Padre Island, Texas — south of Port Aransas near the Kenedy/Kleberg coast
Hanna came ashore on Padre Island on July 25, 2020 as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 90 mph — the first hurricane of the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic season. It brought damaging wind, storm surge, and heavy rain to the Coastal Bend and deep South Texas. Port Aransas sat on the northern side of the track and was spared the worst of the core, but the storm was a sharp reminder that even a lower-category system drives dangerous surge and flooding along this stretch of low-lying barrier island.
NHC Tropical Cyclone Report — Hurricane Hanna (AL082020)Hurricane Allen (1980)
Category 3 hurricaneAugust 10, 1980 — near Port Mansfield, Texas — well south of Port Aransas
Allen was one of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, reaching Category 5 strength three separate times over its lifetime. It weakened before making its final Texas landfall near Port Mansfield on August 10, 1980 as a major (Category 3) hurricane. Its enormous size and earlier peak intensity prompted large-scale evacuations along the entire South Texas coast, the Coastal Bend included. It stands in the historical record as a benchmark for how dangerous — and how unpredictable in final intensity — a Gulf hurricane bearing down on this coast can be.
NHC HURDAT2 Atlantic hurricane databaseHurricane Celia (1970)
Category 3 hurricaneAugust 3, 1970 — near Corpus Christi, Texas — just across the bay from Port Aransas
Celia struck the Coastal Bend near Corpus Christi on August 3, 1970 as a major (Category 3) hurricane and remains one of the most destructive storms in the region's history. It was notorious for extreme, focused wind gusts that caused severe structural damage across Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, and the surrounding communities. For a generation of Coastal Bend residents, Celia was the storm every later hurricane was measured against — until Harvey.
NHC HURDAT2 Atlantic hurricane databaseGet ready, and know how to get out
On a barrier island, preparedness is not optional and evacuation is not a last-minute decision. Because Port Aransas connects to the mainland only by the ferry and State Highway 361, local officials call evacuations early — often a full day or more before landfall — so residents and visitors can get across the causeway before winds close the ferry and flood the roads. Have a plan before the season starts: know your route, keep your vehicle fueled, prepare a go-kit with water, medications, and documents, and register with the STEAR program if anyone in your household would need help evacuating. When an order comes, do not wait it out.
City of Port Aransas
Local evacuation orders, re-entry rules, and emergency notifications for the island.
Nueces County Emergency Management
County-level evacuation guidance and disaster declarations for the Coastal Bend.
Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM)
Statewide emergency preparedness, evacuation coordination, and disaster resources.
Texas STEAR Registry
Free registry for people who may need transportation or medical help evacuating.
DriveTexas (TxDOT road conditions)
Live road closures and evacuation route conditions before you drive.
Ready.gov — Hurricanes
Federal step-by-step hurricane preparedness and go-kit checklists.
National Hurricane Center
Official forecasts, cones, watches, and warnings — the authoritative source.
NWS Corpus Christi
Your local National Weather Service forecast office for the Coastal Bend.
Sources & data
Everything on this page comes from official government sources. Live status is fetched server-side and cached briefly; historical figures are drawn from the National Hurricane Center's published record.
- NOAA National Hurricane Center — active storms
Live tropical cyclone tracking (CurrentStorms.json). Atlantic-basin systems only.
- NOAA National Weather Service — active alerts
Watches and warnings in effect for the Port Aransas point.
- NWS Corpus Christi Weather Forecast Office
The local forecast office for the Coastal Bend.
- NHC Tropical Cyclone Reports & HURDAT2 database
Source of all historical storm figures on this page.