Tropical Storm Gamma crawling near Mexico, worsening ongoing flooding
By
Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 2, 2020 4:22 PM EDT
Tropical Storm Gamma produced storm surge that hit the coast of Mexico on Oct. 3, including the towns of Chuburna and Puerto Morelos.
The 24th tropical storm of the 2020 Atlantic tropical season, Gamma, will continue to crawl near Mexico early this week, bringing heavy rainfall to portions of the country.
A tropical low strengthened into Tropical Depression 25 midday on Friday, before undergoing even more strengthening Friday afternoon and becoming Tropical Storm Gamma.
At 11:45 a.m. CDT on Saturday, Gamma made landfall near Tulum, Mexico, on the Yucatan coast as a strong tropical storm. The storm crawled across the Yucatan Peninsula over the weekend, unleashing life-threatening flash flooding in the process.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that a weather station at Xel-Ha Park, along the coast just north of Tulum, reported sustained winds of 55 mph (89 km/h) and wind gusts up to 68 mph (109 km/h).
Tropical Storm Gamma was centered offshore of the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday night, Oct. 4, 2020. Strong winds were blowing Gamma's thunderstorm activity, as depicted by the darker colors, to the north and east of its center. (CIRA/RAMMB)
CIRA/RAMMB
The storm emerged into the waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico off the northern Yucatan Peninsula coast early Sunday morning.
As of 4 a.m. CDT Monday, Gamma remained a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) and was nearly stationary in movement. It was located about 155 miles (25 km) north-northwest of Cozumel, Mexico.
Gamma is forecast to slowly meander off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula through Monday. Strong wind shear from the southwest is currently impacting the tropical storm, causing most of its thunderstorm activity to be blown over the Gulf of Mexico.
Wind gusts of 40-50 mph are expected along the northwestern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula Monday into Tuesday as Gamma slowly turns to the west and moves into the Bay of Campeche. Winds have wound down across the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula where an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 80 mph was forecast.
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Swimmers should stay out of the water and boaters should consider keeping their vessels in port over the next several days due to rough seas and surf. Increasing gusty winds in thunderstorms can lead to property damage and power outages.
Rain amounts of 2-4 inches are expected from the northern coast of the Yucatan to Tabasco. A more concentrated area of 4-8 inches of rain can fall along the immediate coast of the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula.
It is not out of the question that an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches (300 mm) of rain could be observed in some locations on the Yucatan Peninsula before rainfall tapers off on Tuesday.
Gamma is expected to drift southwestward and may make a second landfall along the northwestern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula prior to midweek.
In addition to Gamma, there is a new tropical depression that AccuWeather meteorologists are keeping a close eye on for possible impacts to the United States Gulf Coast this week.
The formation of Gamma eclipses the 24th storm on the record books, beating out Beta from Oct. 27, 2005. The majority of the former early formation records were set during the notorious 2005 hurricane season. There was an initially unclassified storm during the 2005 season, which bumped the named storms and their numbers farther down the list that year.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Hurricane
Tropical Storm Gamma crawling near Mexico, worsening ongoing flooding
By Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 2, 2020 4:22 PM EDT
Tropical Storm Gamma produced storm surge that hit the coast of Mexico on Oct. 3, including the towns of Chuburna and Puerto Morelos.
The 24th tropical storm of the 2020 Atlantic tropical season, Gamma, will continue to crawl near Mexico early this week, bringing heavy rainfall to portions of the country.
A tropical low strengthened into Tropical Depression 25 midday on Friday, before undergoing even more strengthening Friday afternoon and becoming Tropical Storm Gamma.
At 11:45 a.m. CDT on Saturday, Gamma made landfall near Tulum, Mexico, on the Yucatan coast as a strong tropical storm. The storm crawled across the Yucatan Peninsula over the weekend, unleashing life-threatening flash flooding in the process.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that a weather station at Xel-Ha Park, along the coast just north of Tulum, reported sustained winds of 55 mph (89 km/h) and wind gusts up to 68 mph (109 km/h).
Tropical Storm Gamma was centered offshore of the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday night, Oct. 4, 2020. Strong winds were blowing Gamma's thunderstorm activity, as depicted by the darker colors, to the north and east of its center. (CIRA/RAMMB)
The storm emerged into the waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico off the northern Yucatan Peninsula coast early Sunday morning.
As of 4 a.m. CDT Monday, Gamma remained a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) and was nearly stationary in movement. It was located about 155 miles (25 km) north-northwest of Cozumel, Mexico.
Gamma is forecast to slowly meander off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula through Monday. Strong wind shear from the southwest is currently impacting the tropical storm, causing most of its thunderstorm activity to be blown over the Gulf of Mexico.
Wind gusts of 40-50 mph are expected along the northwestern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula Monday into Tuesday as Gamma slowly turns to the west and moves into the Bay of Campeche. Winds have wound down across the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula where an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 80 mph was forecast.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Swimmers should stay out of the water and boaters should consider keeping their vessels in port over the next several days due to rough seas and surf. Increasing gusty winds in thunderstorms can lead to property damage and power outages.
Rain amounts of 2-4 inches are expected from the northern coast of the Yucatan to Tabasco. A more concentrated area of 4-8 inches of rain can fall along the immediate coast of the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula.
It is not out of the question that an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches (300 mm) of rain could be observed in some locations on the Yucatan Peninsula before rainfall tapers off on Tuesday.
Gamma is expected to drift southwestward and may make a second landfall along the northwestern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula prior to midweek.
In addition to Gamma, there is a new tropical depression that AccuWeather meteorologists are keeping a close eye on for possible impacts to the United States Gulf Coast this week.
Related:
The formation of Gamma eclipses the 24th storm on the record books, beating out Beta from Oct. 27, 2005. The majority of the former early formation records were set during the notorious 2005 hurricane season. There was an initially unclassified storm during the 2005 season, which bumped the named storms and their numbers farther down the list that year.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo