By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Special to the PRESS
It’s appearing likely that Tropical Storm Ernesto, although expected to reach hurricane strength, will not have an impact on the Rio Grande Valley.
Meteorologist Jim Campbell of the National Weather Service in Brownsville pointed to an intermediate advisory, issued Monday morning by the National Hurricane Center, that showed Ernesto was moving west toward southern Mexico, indicating that the storm is not expected to pose a threat to the deep South Texas area.
“Right now it doesn’t look like it’s going to have any effect on us as the model shows it keeps moving south,” Campbell said.
Ernesto is moving west at 12 mph with 50 mph winds and is expected to turn in a west-northwestern direction sometime Monday, continuing on that track until Wednesday.
“Then the storm should move near the northern coast of Honduras,” Campbell said, adding, “It’ll approach the each coast of the Yucatán Peninsula Tuesday night.”
Within the next 24 to 48 hours, Ernesto is projected to strengthen to minimal hurricane strength with higher gusts.
In the meantime, meteorologists have also been keeping an eye on Florence, which has been downgraded from a tropical storm to a depression.
Campbell said Florence is currently located in the Atlantic about 2,095 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.
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