Tropical Storm Ernesto will pass the near the coast of Honduras late today on a path that will probably take it toward landfall on Belize and then Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the National Hurricane Center said.
The fifth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season had winds of 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour and was moving west in the Caribbean at 12 mph, the Miami-based center said in an advisory at 8 a.m. East Coast time. Ernesto was about 145 miles east of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border.
Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the coast of Honduras from the border westward to Punta Sal, while a watch is in effect west of Punta Sal to Guatemala. A hurricane watch was issued for the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula from Chetumal to Punta Gruesa, and tropical storm watches were in effect for Grand Cayman and for Mexico north of Punta Gruesa to Tulum.
Ernesto may strengthen somewhat in the next two days. There’s a chance it may grow to near hurricane level before making landfall on the northern coast of Belize on Aug. 8 and crossing the Yucatan toward the coast of the Bay of Campeche, the center said.
A separate system, Tropical Storm Florence, weakened to a depression in the Atlantic between the northern Leeward and Cape Verde islands with 35 mph winds.
To contact the reporters on this story: Rupert Rowling in London at [email protected]; Charlotte Porter in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at [email protected]
The fifth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season had winds of 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour and was moving west in the Caribbean at 12 mph, the Miami-based center said in an advisory at 8 a.m. East Coast time. Ernesto was about 145 miles east of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border.
Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the coast of Honduras from the border westward to Punta Sal, while a watch is in effect west of Punta Sal to Guatemala. A hurricane watch was issued for the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula from Chetumal to Punta Gruesa, and tropical storm watches were in effect for Grand Cayman and for Mexico north of Punta Gruesa to Tulum.
Ernesto may strengthen somewhat in the next two days. There’s a chance it may grow to near hurricane level before making landfall on the northern coast of Belize on Aug. 8 and crossing the Yucatan toward the coast of the Bay of Campeche, the center said.
A separate system, Tropical Storm Florence, weakened to a depression in the Atlantic between the northern Leeward and Cape Verde islands with 35 mph winds.
To contact the reporters on this story: Rupert Rowling in London at [email protected]; Charlotte Porter in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at [email protected]