TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO: Headed for Hurricane Status

August 7, 2012 - 11:13 am | Category: World

Tropical Storm Ernesto, churning its way through the southern Caribbean, is expected to reach hurricane strength before making landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Its current maximum sustained winds are 65 miles an hour.

After it crosses the Yucatan, the storm is forecast to head straight for the east coast of Mexico and not turn northward into the Gulf of Mexico. Interaction with land will weaken the system, and forecasters don’t expect it to regain hurricane strength before its second landfall.