An analytical, normal mode, two-layer model is presented that gives the response of a coastal region to local wind forcing. The model is linear and is developed in frequency space, the latter allowing one to compare the model responses directly with the results of current meter/wind data spectral and coherence analyses. The theoretical development indicated the requirement of a frictional parameter in both the barotropic and baroclinic modes to balance the wind stress at lower frequencies. Experimentations with the model and current wind data collected 20 km off the Texas coast showed that the requirement for both frictional effects throughout the subinertial frequency range. With appropriate frictional parameters, the model predicts the response of the Texas coastal region to local wind forcing quite well, using data from the fall and winter of 1978--1979. However, during the summer of 1978, the model consistently underpredicted the energy levels of the currents. Since the summer is a period of low wind stress energy for the Texas shelf, this underprediction most likely indicates the presence of nonlocally shelf wave phenomena.