Tropical Storm Fernand, the 6th named storm of the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season, is due to strike land tomorrow in the Gulf of Mexico. Due to the forecast, a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Puerto Altamira to the Mouth of the Rio Grande River. A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, in this case within the next 6 to 12 hours.
As of the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center, the center of Tropical Storm Fernand was located near latitude 23.2 North, longitude 96.4 West. Fernand is moving toward the west near 3 mph, and a track toward the west-northwest is anticipated on Wednesday and Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of Fernand is expected to cross the northeastern coast of Mexico on Wednesday night. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts. Some slight increase in intensity is possible before landfall. Once inland, weakening is expected and Fernand should dissipate in a couple of days.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center mainly to the west of the center. Data from the reconnaissance plane indicate that the tropical storm force winds are already near the coast of Mexico. The minimum central pressure reported by a NOAA Hurricane Hunter plane was 1000 mb or 29.53 inches of mercury
While the Mexican Gulf coast will bear the brunt of this small, short-lived system, heavy rain and the threat of isolated tornadoes will exist in southern Texas through Wednesday as a result of this storm.
