Tamaulipas, Mexico.- Tropical storm “Francine” intensified its power during the afternoon of this Monday and is forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale early on Tuesday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported at 5:00 p.m. that the cyclone was located 235 kilometers south-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, with maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour.
“Francine is expected to become a hurricane soon,” the statement said in a warning, noting that the storm was moving north-northwest at a speed of 11 kilometres per hour.
“A continued north-northwestward motion is expected through tonight, followed by a turn to the northeast with some acceleration beginning Tuesday,” he said.
“On the forecast track, ‘Francine’ is expected to be offshore off the coasts of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas through Tuesday, and near the coasts of Louisiana and Texas on Wednesday.” Significant strengthening of the cyclone is forecast, it noted, over the next two days. The National Weather Service reported that a tropical storm warning zone has been established from Barra del Tordo, Tamaulipas, to the mouth of the Rio Grande, on the border with the United States. “Tropical storm ‘Francine’ is gradually strengthening and in the next few hours, it could evolve into a hurricane off the coast of Tamaulipas,” it said in a warning issued at 6:15 p.m. Its cloud bands, it said, cause torrential rains (150 to 250 millimeters) in areas of Tamaulipas and Veracruz; intense rains (75 to 150 mm) in Nuevo Leon; Spanish: very strong punctual (50 to 75 mm) in San Luis Potosí and isolated in Coahuila. “Northern component winds are expected with gusts of 70 to 90 kilometers per hour, waves of 3 to 5 meters high and possible formation of waterspouts on the coasts of Tamaulipas and Veracruz,” he added. The Tropical Cyclone Early Warning System (SIAT) of the National Coordination of Civil Protection declared an orange alert for 8 municipalities of Tamaulipas: Burgos, Cruillas, Matamoros, Méndez, Reynosa, Río Bravo, San Fernando and Valle Hermoso.
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