Tropical Storm Cristobal, the third named tropical system of the Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall in southeastern Mexico early Wednesday and is forecast to continue lashing the country and parts of Central America with heavy rain and gusty winds into the end of the week.
Landfall occurred around 8:30 local time Wednesday near Atasta, Mexico, just to the west of the city of Ciudad Del Carmen in the state of Campeche. At the time of landfall, maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) were reported.
AccuWeather meteorologists expect the system to bring the risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides with some locations expected to receive over 2 feet of rain (610 mm).
Cristobal became a tropical storm midday on Tuesday in the Bay of Campeche, located in the southwestern corner of the Gulf of Mexico.
“With the upgrade to tropical storm status, a new record has been set for the Atlantic basin. Cristobal has now become the earliest occurrence of a third named system in the Atlantic basin during any hurricane season in recorded history,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. The previous record was set during the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season.
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| The above infrared-satellite blended image show Cristobal on Wednesday morning, near the coast of Tabasco in the Bay of Campeche (Photo/NOAA). |
Tropical storm warnings were issued by the National Hurricane Center along the Mexico coast from Veracruz to the city of Campeche on Tuesday and were still in effect Wednesday morning.
After becoming a tropical storm, Cristobal made a loop around the southern Bay of Campeche and moved southward before making landfall.
Reports of flooding in the streets have emerged from the state Tobasco all the way through the Yucatan Peninsula.
A total of 9,000 soldiers and National Guard members were put in a position to help with preparations and relief work.
Ante las fuertes lluvias que originó los remanentes de la tormenta tropical Amanda y la formación de la depresión tropical #Cristobal, estamos apoyando a las familias de #Yucatán, junto con autoridades federales y locales para que puedan estar en un lugar seguro. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/C7oPer0jnE
— Mauricio Vila (@MauVila) June 2, 2020
According to Tobasco Hoy, a local paper in Mexico, residents in at-risk communities like El Bosque Rovirosa Segunda and La Costeñita were evacuated on Tuesday. On Tuesday, waves up to 3 meters (almost 10 feet) high in the area forced one harbormaster in the region to close a maritime terminal for the fourth day in a row for all vessel types.
