Hurricane Katia, which is churning in the southwestern portion of the Gulf of Mexico, was upgraded to Category 2 on Friday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) in an update at 11 a.m. ET Friday.
The storm is about 160 miles east-southeast of Tampico, Mexico, and it’s some 125 north-northeast of Veracruz, the storm-tracking agency said. It has winds of 100 mph, and it’s moving west-southwest at 5 miles per hour.
It’s not expected to affect the United States.
A hurricane warning is in effect for Cabo Rojo to Laguna Verde. A hurricane warning means that it’s expected to hit about 12-24 hours, the NHC noted in its update.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for north of Cabo Rojo to Rio Panuco and south of Laguna Verde to Puerto Veracruz, the NHC stated.
Katia has “worrying characteristics” as it is very slow moving and could dump a lot of rain on areas that have been saturated in recent weeks, Luis Felipe Puente, the chief of Mexico’s national emergency services, told domestic television on Wednesday, reported Reuters.
