FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ The already busy 2020 Atlantic hurricane season officially kicked off Monday with a tropical depression, which by midday Tuesday had become Tropical Storm Cristobal.
Cristobal is the third named storm of 2020 in the Atlantic. Both Arthur and Bertha formed ahead of June 1, the official start of hurricane season. It's also the earliest C-name storm in recorded history, according to the National Hurricane Center. It broke the record previously held by Tropical Storm Colin, which formed on June 5, four days after the start of the 2016 hurricane season.
As of 2 p.m. EDT, Tropical Storm Cristobal was located about 130 miles off the eastern coast of Mexico over the Bay of Campeche, moving southwest at 3 mph. Maximum sustained winds remained at 40 mph, just over the 39-mph minimum threshold for tropical storm-force winds.
The storm is expected to move slowly across the Gulf of Mexico this week, turning northward by the weekend.
Whether the U.S. will be impacted is not yet known.
"It is too soon to specify the location and timing of any potential impacts along the U.S. Gulf Coast," the National Hurricane Center said, but it advised areas along the Gulf Coast to monitor the storm and have hurricane plans in place.
"They have it moving to the north eventually, but not until much, much later into early next week," National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Frye said of the system's projected path. "The steering currents are just so light down there right now, and that's why it's kind of meandering _ which is bad news for Mexico because they're getting a lot of rain from it."
Tropical storm conditions are expected along Mexico's east coast, where a tropical storm warning remains in effect, according to NHC.
"Conditions are fairly conducive over the Bay of Campeche," Frye said. "It should mingle down there for a little bit causing a lot of flooding and a lot of bad weather there for portions of Mexico."
The storm formed from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda, which formed briefly in the Pacific, off the coast of Central America and dissipated after making landfall in Guatemala. It is rare for a Pacific tropical system to regenerate as an Atlantic storm.
Heavy rain with the possibility of life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides is expected this week in southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and western Honduras. Parts of Guatemala and El Salvador have already seen deadly flooding, the hurricane center said Tuesday.
Whether the U.S. will be impacted is not yet known.
"They have it moving to the north eventually, but not until much, much later into early next week," Frye said of the system's projected path. "The steering currents are just so light down there right now, and that's why it's kind of meandering _ which is bad news for Mexico because they're getting a lot of rain from it."
Rain accumulations of 10 to 20 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches, is expected over parts of the Mexico.
"It is too soon to specify the location and timing of any potential impacts along the U.S. Gulf Coast," the hurricane center said in an advisory issued at 11 p.m. Monday.
Cristobal would be the third named storm of 2020 in the Atlantic. Both Arthur and Bertha formed ahead of the official start of hurricane season.
The Atlantic hurricane season ends Nov. 30.
