Hurricane Zeta zips toward US Gulf Coast

Zeta strengthened into a hurricane Monday as it approached Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula before taking aim on the battered U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week.

The hurricane was centered about 105 miles southeast of Cozumel Island, the National Hurricane Center said in a 3:10 p.m. advisory. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and was moving northwest at about 10 mph after being nearly stationary over the weekend.

Forecasters said the storm will likely weaken slightly as it moves over the northern Yucatan Peninsula on Monday. It should restrengthen as it moves over the southern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and the northern Gulf Coast on Wednesday.

A “dangerous” storm surge is expected to raise water levels by 1 to 3 feet above normal tide levels along the coast in the hurricane warning area near where the center is set to make landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Mexican government issued a hurricane warning for the Yucatan Peninsula from Tulum to Dzilam, including

Cozumel, and a tropical storm warning was in effect for south of Tulum, west of Dzilam and Pinar del Rio, Cuba.

Local authorities are taking the storm seriously, but with a distinctly less alarmed tone than when Hurricane Delta strengthened to a Category 4 storm off the coast three weeks ago.

Forecasters urged residents from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle to monitor the storm’s progress as Zeta is expected to be at or near hurricane strength when it approaches the northern Gulf Coast.

“There is an increasing risk of dangerous storm surge, wind and rainfall impacts from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle,” the Hurricane Center said.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards also urged his state’s citizens, who are recovering from Hurricanes Laura and Delta, to monitor the storm.

The Hurricane Center said Zeta could bring 4 to 8 inches of rain to Mexico, the Cayman Islands and parts of Cuba on Tuesday before dumping 2 to 4 inches of rain on the Gulf Coast, Tennessee Valley, southern Appalachians and midAtlantic states, potentially causing flooding.