Tensions have been growing along the southern coast of the US as Tropical Storm Cristina continues to grow. At this rate, it’s set to become the first hurricane of 2020. As if this year hasn’t been difficult enough.
As of this morning (July 9), the storm was recorded to be about 370 miles away from the coast of Manzanillo, Mexico. At this time, it was noted to have a max sustained wind speed of 65 mph. While powerful, it has to reach 74 mph to be classified as a hurricane.
According to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kittlowski, favorable conditions will allow Cristina to develop and spend several days as a hurricane later this week and into the weekend. “Waters are sufficiently warm and wind shear is relatively low in the zone where Cristina is going much of this week,” Kottlowski explained. By these estimates, it should achieve hurricane status later today.
Fortunately, the projected direction indicates that the storm will head out into the sea instead of toward land. In this case, the worst we would see are rough waves along the coast, a result of the strong winds from the storm.
There is a chance that one of two things will happen. The storm can grow stronger and turn around to head toward land. This would cause a severe weather emergency for coastal areas like Mexico, California, and so on.
The other is that it will manage to sustain itself long enough to reach Hawaii. Though this is equally as unlikely, due to the nature of the waters there.
“The waters east of Hawaii are cooler than waters south and west of Central America and this tends to cause most tropical systems to weaken and/or fall apart before reaching Hawaii.”
If you live in a coastal area or somewhere prone to flooding, this may spell bad news. We’ve previously written about how to protect your home for flooding. If you haven’t given it a look, now might be a good time to do so.