By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist
August 2,2016; 10:43AM,EDT
Earl officially became a tropical storm during Tuesday midday and was located just southwest of Jamaica. Earl will continue to move westward over the Caribbean through this week.
Earl will gradually strengthen into Wednesday.
"The center of the system should reach land late Wednesday or Wednesday night," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.
This loop is centered over the Caribbean Sea with Hispaniola located north of the tropical system. (NOAA/Satellite)All interests in the western Caribbean should continue to monitor the track and strength of Earl. Bathers and boaters can expect building seas and an increasing risk of rip currents into midweek.
Rain and winds from the system battered the Dominican Republic from Sunday to Monday. At least six people were killed after winds knocked down power lines onto a bus in Nagua, according to the Associated Press.
Significant gusty squalls and heavy rainfall will impact Jamaica on Tuesday and the Cayman Islands during Tuesday night. Flash flooding and mudslides can occur.
Depending on the track and speed of Earl, similar conditions can reach parts of Honduras and Nicaragua late Tuesday night and Wednesday.
"Earl will approach Belize and the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico with heavy rain and gusty winds later Wednesday or Wednesday night," Kottlowski said.
The northern coast of Belize, as well as low-lying areas in the Mexico state of Quintana Roo, could be subject to coastal flooding and beach erosion. In addition to the threat of flooding, trees can be knocked over and power outages are possible.
The very fast forward motion will limit strengthening so that Earl probably does not have enough time to become a hurricane.
The extent and severity of the rain and wind will depend on the strength of Earl at landfall. Flooding and sporadic power outages can occur even if a tropical storm or minimal hurricane moves ashore.
Once over land, Earl will weaken, but locally torrential rainfall and gusty winds will continue in the region during Thursday.
There is a chance that Earl will move back out over the waters of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico before the end of the week, where some renewed strengthening could occur, Kottlowski stated.
RELATED:
AccuWeather Hurricane Center
Atlantic Ocean satellite loop
Atlantic hurricane season: La Niña may fuel most active season in 3 years
"A second landfall could occur in northeastern Mexico during Friday or this weekend, depending on Earl's track," he said.
Romario Ca-brini White ·
This is a weak tropical wave. We didn't experience no heavy rain, no strong winds neither.
Deborah Dennis ·
Looks like a rain event at the most.
Cherie Pridmore ·
As
per below comment from Johan, local forecast for the Riviera Maya ie
Cancun to Tulum will simply be much rain and winds for a couple of days
and will not necessitate trip cancellation. Storm will pass over Yucatan
and head inland Thursday
I have lived in Playa del Carmen the past 6 yrs and occasions like this rarely develop
Bon Voayage
I have lived in Playa del Carmen the past 6 yrs and occasions like this rarely develop
Bon Voayage
Bridget Boeneman-Eckhardt ·
We
finally booked our dream vacation to Belize (Ambergris Caye) and now a
tropical storm! Is anyone near there to show what the weather is really
like? What do you thing about traveling? We leave on Thursday (Aug.
4)?
Hanna Dash
If
the storm continues to move at a fairly quick pace and doesn't gain
much strength, the weather should clear out fast and by Thursday or
Friday Ambergris will only be cleaning up a bit of sand and some debris.
Depending on where the sorm hits will be another factor. It could
move further north which would leave most of Belize virtually untouched,
except for a bit of beach erosion. I live in northwestern Yucatan and
we will probably only get rain and maybe a little wind. If it moves
north, we could see some bad weather here.
Enjoy your vacation. Ambergris Caye is beautiful and fishing is superb.
Enjoy your vacation. Ambergris Caye is beautiful and fishing is superb.
Jaye Tiffin Shipley ·
It
should be all over by thursday. Tomorrow will be the bad day. Im in
Caye Caulker just south of Ambergris Caye its sunny right now
Jo Collinson ·
We are flying from the UK on Wednesday 3rd of august to Cancun will it be safe or do I need to cancel
Brendan O'Brien ·
Hi
Bruce, it looks like Belize may take a direct hit so stay safe. My
family is also heading to the Cancun area on Aug 4. Do you think a trip
to that area is unrealistic if the storm continues primarily south?
Thanks again for sharing your experience.
Johan De Clercq ·
No
worry it s a quick one becaus eit s moving fast and not even a tropical
storm yet...It will reach probably the south part of the Yucatan
Peninsula with just rain and some wind on wednesday night and
thursday...Go enjoy your vacation
2
Bruce West ·
Cancel the vacation. Absolutely.
Teresa Nicole Saunders Meske ·
We
have a scheduled family vacation with three teenagers in Cancun
arriving on August 3rd and departing on August 9th. Should we consider
cancelling the vacation?
Hanna Dash
You
may be delayed getting to Cancun on the 3rd due to bad weather, unless
you beat the storm. The weather after a tropical storm and even
hurricanes clears quickly, especially with a fast moving one. I would
not cancel unless losing one day is important to you.
Rob Martin Piszkin ·
It's still resisting forming a closed sfc circulation, but still the winds now are at tropical storm strength.
Janet Lee Morrison
Good
morning! I am on the island Isla Mujeres to six miles off the coast of
Cancun. What can we expect as of the the current readings? Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment