System in the Gulf of Mexico ‘very close to tropical storm strength,’ forecasters say
UPDATE: Tropical Storm Cristobal forms in the Gulf as earliest third named storm on record.
The third named storm of the 2020 hurricane season could form sometime Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico, making it the earliest such storm in recorded history and bringing heavy rains to southern Mexico.
The record for the earliest third named storm in the Atlantic Basin is Tropical Storm Colin on June 5, 2016, tweeted Phil Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University.
The weather system originally started out as Tropical Storm Amanda in the Eastern Pacific basin, but it dissolved as it crossed over Guatemala. Amanda, the first storm of the season in the Eastern Pacific basin, caused drenching rains that killed at least 14 people and forced 40,000 to evacuate, according to Accuweather.
After crossing into the Bay of Campeche the storm remnants came together again as Tropical Depression 3 and “is very close to tropical storm strength,” according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters expect it will strengthen into Tropical Storm Cristobal later Tuesday.
An Air Force Reserve Unit Hurricane Hunter aircraft is currently investigating the “slow moving” depression, which is drifting westward over the Bay of Campeche. The system is continuing to bring life-threatening heavy rainfall and flooding over Mexico and portions of Central America, with tropical storm conditions expected along the coast of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. advisory Tuesday.
Mexico remains under a tropical storm warning from Campeche to Puerto de Veracruz. Deadly flooding has already occurred in portions of Guatemala and El Salvador, with additional heavy rainfall expected to portions of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The heavy rainfall may produce life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.
Forecasters are expecting the system to produce a total of 10 to 20 inches of rain, with isolated areas seeing up to 25 inches of rain over parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco, Veracruz,and Campeche.
The depression is also expected to produce 10 to 15 inches of rain over northern Chiapas and other Mexican states, Quintana Roo and Yucatan and along the Pacific coasts of Chiapas, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The heavy rainfall may produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.
Forecasters say the storm, which has maximum sustained winds near 35 mph with higher guests, will meander over the southern Bay of Campeche through late Wednesday and will be near the coast of the southern Bay of Campeche Tuesday night through Thursday.
The system is then forecast to begin moving north across the Gulf of Mexico by this weekend. However, forecasters say it is still too soon to say where the storm will go and what potential impacts it could bring along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 5:23 PM.
