Tropical Storm Nate Forecast to Hit US Coast

(NOAA)

U.S. weather forecasters say that Tropical Storm Nate is expected to hit the Gulf Coast of the United States by Sunday, Oct. 8. It’s unclear whether Nate will strengthen to a hurricane.

“Residents along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana through the Florida Panhandle should monitor the progress of this system and heed any advice given by local officials,” according to the National Hurricane Center.

(NOAA)

The storm is forecast to next target the Mexican resort city of Cancun before setting its sights on the U.S. Gulf Coast as either a tropical storm or hurricane, The Weather Channel reported.

“Flooding rains expected over portions of Central America,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Nate was upgraded from a tropical depression on Thursday. It currently has sustained winds of 40 mph and is moving northwest at 9 mph.

“The Government of Mexico has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and the adjacent islands from Punta Herrero to Rio Lagartos,” according to the NHC.

(NOAA)

A hurricane watch is in effect for Punta Herrero to Rio Lagartos in Mexico, the agency said.

As the Weather Channel noted, “Nate will make landfall along the northern Gulf Coast, somewhere between Louisiana and Florida, Sunday. It remains too soon to tell where exactly this landfall will occur. The uncertainty in Nate’s forecast track is higher than normal.”

The landfall will “most likely be as a low-end hurricane,” Weather Channel forecasters wrote.

It could hit anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, according to the NHC’s cone of uncertainty for the storm