Tropical Storm Dolly threatens to grow into hurricane

Bericht van: Takkie (Amstelveen) , 22-07-2008 18:31 

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) July 21, 2008
Tropical Storm Dolly churned over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, threatening to grow into a hurricane within 24 hours as it headed toward the Mexico-Texas border, the US National Hurricane Center said.
The governments of Texas and Mexico issued a hurricane watch for coastal areas, meaning they could be struck by hurricane-force conditions within 36 hours, the Miami-based center said.

Dolly was packing 80 kilometer per hour (50 mph) winds after emerging from Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. The eye of the storm was about 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of Progreso Mexico.

The storm was expected to produce two to four inches (five to 10 centimeters) of rain accumulation in northern Yucatan with isolated maximum amounts of up to six inches (15 cm), the center said.

"Strengthening is forecast and Dolly could become a hurricane by tomorrow," the center said in its latest bulletin issued at 11:00 am (1500 GMT).


In this satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), tropical storm Dolly enters the Gulf of Mexico as it moves toward the west-northwest at 16:15 UTC on July 21, 2008. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami have issued a hurricane watch in parts of Texas extended from Brownsville to Port O'Connor. The government of Mexico also issued a hurricane watch from Rio San Fernando northward to the US border. Maximum sustained winds for Dolly are currently near 105 km/h (65 mph). Photo courtesy AFP.  Quote selectie