Tropical Storm Franklin may just be getting going
It could become a hurricane this week
Tropical Storm Franklin could reach hurricane strength as it slams into Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, dumping rain and pushing a dangerous storm surge into the coast.
Up to a foot of drenching rainfall is possible, and life-threatening flash floods are possible, the National Hurricane Center warned. A storm surge of up to 4 feet — accompanied by large, destructive waves — also is possible as the storm hits the shoreline.
Damaging wind gusts of 40-60 mph also are possible. Tropicalstorm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles from the storm’s center.
The tourist resorts of Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel are at risk from the storm. In the higher terrain of Central America, the system also could trigger mudslides, AccuWeather meteorologist Eric Leister said.
As of 8 p.m. ET, Franklin had sustained winds of 60 mph and was 120 miles east of Chetumal, Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm was moving to the northwest at 13 mph.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for most of the Yucatán Peninsula. A hurricane watch also was in effect for the east coast of the Yucatán because of the chance the storm might strengthen before landfall.
A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph.
After crossing the peninsula, Franklin could re-intensify into a hurricane in the Bay of Campeche to deliver another blow to Mexico’s east coast this week.
“Franklin could be a hurricane by the time it makes a second landfall between Tampico and Veracruz, Mexico, on Thursday morning,” AccuWeather hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski said.
The USA shouldn’t be directly affected by this system. Rain could graze south Texas, and rough seas may endanger swimmers along the state’s coastline as Franklin moves into Mexico.
Franklin is the sixth named storm of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. All of the storms have reached only tropical-storm strength.
Far out in the Atlantic Ocean, a separate tropical system has a 20% chance of developing into a named storm over the next five days, the hurricane center said. If it gets a name, the system would be called Gert.