Tropical Storm Alex has weakened slightly after making landfall in Belize, but the storm continued to produce strong gusts of wind and heavy rain, US officials said today.
Tropical Storm Alex is intensifying as it moves over the Yucatan peninsula and has a moderate chance of becoming a major hurricane as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico, US officials said today.
The storm was not an imminent threat to oil-siphoning efforts at BP's blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf, the US coast guard said.
Alex was expected to emerge in the southern Gulf of Mexico today and make landfall again as a hurricane later in the week between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano, Mexico, sparing BP spill collection efforts.
But the National Hurricane Centre in Miami said models varied widely on its possible track.
This morning, the centre said Alex has become a more organised storm as it crossed over Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula, and there was at least a moderate chance it could become a major hurricane. That is a category 3 or higher, with winds of at least 178-209 km/h.
Alex, the first named storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, had sustained winds of near 65 km/h and was located about 90 km southwest of Chetumal, Mexico.
"Strengthening is forecast on Sunday night and Monday after Alex moves over the southern Gulf of Mexico," the Miami centre said.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the coast of Belize and the east coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula from Chetumal to Cancun.
Alex was expected to bring 10 to 20 cm of rain to the Yucatan peninsula, southern Mexico, northern Guatemala, Honduras and Belize by tomorrow morning. Isolated amounts of up to 40cm were possible over mountainous areas. "These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," according to the centre.
Yesterday, Quintana Roo state authorities evacuated fishing villages across the Chinchorro reef, near Belize, and Xcalak, famous for its diving spots. Some rain fell over Cancun, a major seaside resort that draws US and European visitors, but there was no threat to some 35,000 tourists in the area, civil protection said.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th and meteorologists predict this year will be a very active one. Hurricanes feed on warm water and the sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are higher than usual this year.