Will Tropical Storm Cristobal bring bad weather this weekend to U.S. Gulf coast?
Tropical Storm Cristobal is continuing to bring deadly flooding to parts of Mexico and Central America early Thursday as it slowly moves farther inland into southern Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Cristobal, with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph with higher gusts, is about 70 miles southeast of Ciudad de Carmen in Mexico and is forecast to briefly weaken into a depression later Thursday before regaining its tropical storm-level strength as it re-emerges over the southern Gulf of Mexico Friday.
Forecasters say the storm is expected to then turn north, toward Louisiana, and could see some strengthening as it crosses the Gulf this weekend, but so far have not predicted that Cristobal will become a hurricane.
The forecast
Those along the U.S. Gulf Coast from Texas to the Florida Panhandle might experience stormy weather over the weekend, including storm surge and heavy rainfall, according to an advisory from the National Hurricane Center at 7 a.m. Thursday.
The National Hurricane Center says it’s possible Cristobal will reach Louisiana as a tropical storm early Monday and could weaken into a depression by the time it arrives to Arizona Tuesday. But forecasters are cautioning that it’s still too soon to tell where the storm will go and how strong it will be. They also are urging everyone to prepare for hurricane season, which started June 1.
Tropical Storm Cristobal: How is it affecting Mexico and Central America?
Tropical Storm Cristobal slammed into the Campeche region of Mexico Wednesday morning, bringing devastating flooding and 60 mph winds. It came ashore just to the west of low-lying Ciudad del Carmen around 9:30 a.m and was nearly stationary by 11 p.m.
Even before Cristobal strengthened into a tropical storm Tuesday, heavy rains had already forced evacuation orders in parts of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, with damage reported in Yaxcabá and Tiholop in the state of Yucatán, according to the Weather Channel.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm will continue to bring heavy rains and potentially life-threatening floods and mudslides in portions of Mexico and Central America through Thursday, even as the storm briefly weakens to a depression.
Even though Cristobal is inland, tropical storm conditions will continue along and near the coast of Mexico for a few more hours, especially over western Campeche, eastern Tabasco and northern Chiapas states, according to the hurricane center. Mexico is under a tropical storm warning from Campeche to Coatzacoalcos.
Police in Campeche state, where the low-lying Ciudad del Carmen is located, closed several highways because of flooding, The Associated Press reported.
Heavy rainfall is expected through Saturday over far southern Mexico and portions of the Yucatán Peninsula and along the Pacific coast from Chiapas to Guatemala and El Salvador, with some areas possibly seeing up to 20 or 25 inches of rain, according to forecasters.
Video posted on Facebook by Desde el Balcón shows a van traveling through the flooded streets of Tiholop Tuesday. The water reached almost a meter and a half.
This storm started out in a separate basin altogether, the Eastern Pacific, as Tropical Storm Amanda, the first named storm of the Pacific season. It crossed Guatemala, killing at least 14 people and causing mass evacuations before dissolving over land. Forecasters say some of the areas that saw heavy rains and flooding with Amanda will see it again with Cristobal.
The storm re-strengthened into tropical depression three over the weekend, now as a part of the Atlantic Basin and formed into Cristobal Tuesday morning in the Bay of Campeche in Southern Mexico. Cristobal is the earliest third named storm to form on record.
The previous 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.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 12:48 PM.
