Warm Waters Of Gulf Of Mexico Could Give Birth To New Tropical System

Meteorologists said that the warm waters observed in the Gulf of Mexico could result in a new tropical system. They said that they would be watching the warm body of water for tropical activity before the middle of October. Moreover, the moisture is likely to gather in the region and this could later lead to drenching rain and stormy conditions over some areas.

Tropical Systems in the Gulf of Mexico

floods caused by abnormal hot waters in the Gulf of Mexico

(Photo : Getty Images/Yamil Lage)

Weather experts said that whatever will happen over the Gulf of Mexico next week is likely due to the behavior of tropical systems in the eastern Pacific.

They said that Tropical Storm Lidia is expected to make landfall over the west-central Mexico by Tuesday as a Category 2 hurricane (maximum sustained winds of 96-110 mph, or 153-176 km/h).

Lidia is forecasted to become a hurricane, increasing the risk of strong winds, rainfall impacts, storm surge, and high surfs along the portions of the west-central Mexico Coast of Mexico.

Meteorologists noted that Lidia is expected to produce rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches with local maxima of 12 inches through Wednesday across the state of Nayarit, southern portions of the state of Sinaloa, and coastal portions of the state of Jalisco in western Mexico.

They warned that these rains would likely produce flash and urban floods, along with possible mudslides in areas of higher terrain near the coast.

Tropical Storm Max

Meanwhile, authorities are also monitoring another tropical feature beside Lidia, which is Tropical Storm Max.

This weather disturbance is expected to bring massive rains and powerful winds to southwestern Mexico in the upcoming days.

According to the forecast, some of the moisture and energy coming from Lidia and Tropical Storm Max may transfer to the Gulf of Mexico during the middle to the latter part of this week.

The storm development in the Gulf of Mexico next week may be either tropical, subtropical or non-tropical. A subtropical or hybrid storm has both tropical and non-tropical characteristics.

The Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Caribbean and southwestern Atlantic, is defined as a zone where there is a higher potential for tropical storms to form in a general sense during the month of October.

Meteorologists said that waters typically remain sufficiently warm for tropical development in this area, and they noted that this tends to be a front in the vicinity that may help a tropical system to form in the first place.

Experts said that water temperatures are generally in the low to mid-80s in the Gulf of Mexico and are likely to hover around these levels during this week.

They noted that the critical minimum temperature for full tropical storm formation is near or just under 80 degrees.

Meteorologists said that there would be one significant deterrent against a fully tropical system from forming this week in the Gulf, which is a wind shear.

Wind shear is associated with stiff breezes in the middle layer of the atmosphere which may later prevent a tropical system from forming or cause the upper portion of a developed storm to be blown away.

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