Oil drilling in Gulf safer, but concerns linger, report says
A new National Academy of Science study says that 13 years after a massive BP oil spill fouled the Gulf of Mexico, regulators and industry have reduced some risks in deep water exploration in the gulf but some troublesome safety issues persist.
Interior postpones March oil leases onshore and offshore
The Interior Department said Friday, Feb. 12, 2021 that it is postponing onshore and offshore oil lease sales planned for next month in line with President Joe Biden's executive order on climate change. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)NEW ORLEANS โ The Interior Department said Friday that it is postponing onshore and offshore oil lease sales planned for next month in line with President Joe Biden's executive order on climate change. The onshore sales were postponed to confirm the adequacy of underlying environmental analyses, said Interior spokesperson Melissa Schwartz. AdLow interest and small attendance at offshore lease sales covering different parts of the Gulf of Mexico prompted President Barack Obama's administration to combine them. โCanceling this huge offshore Gulf oil auction helps protect our climate and life on Earth," said Kristen Monsell of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Biden halts oil and gas leases, permits on US land and water
In the closing months of the Trump administration, energy companies stockpiled enough drilling permits for western public lands to keep pumping oil for years. Its effect could be further blunted by companies that stockpiled enough drilling permits in Trump's final months to allow them to keep pumping oil and gas for years. But Bidenโs move could be the first step in an eventual goal to ban all leases and permits to drill on federal land. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual U.S. production. But there are other ways an ambitious Biden administration could make it harder for permit holders to extract oil and gas.
Tropical Storm Iota forms, could follow Eta's deadly path
Hurricane experts were closely watching the Caribbean, where Tropical Storm Iota formed Friday afternoon. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rainfall to northern Nicaragua and Honduras. The storm was located about 350 miles (560 kilometers) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph). Iota is a record-setting 30th named storm of this yearโs extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Earlier, firefighters in Tampa had to rescue around a dozen people who got stuck in storm surge flooding on a boulevard adjacent to the bay.
Tropical Storm Eta races off Carolinas after soaking Florida
One death in Florida was linked to the storm, along with some scattered flooding and forecasters said the tropical storm was on a path offshore of South Carolina that would eventually take it further out to sea. That came amid a combination of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico being carried up by a cold front that had pushed Eta across Florida earlier. Earlier Thursday, Eta was in the Gulf of Mexico when it slogged ashore near Cedar Key, Florida. Before that first brush with Florida, Eta first hit Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane and killed at least 120 people in Central America and Mexico, with scores more missing. A 29th named system, Tropical Storm Theta, was centered late Thursday about 440 miles (705 kilometers) south of the Azores and moving east.
Eta remains a tropical storm as Florida prepares for 2nd hit
Residents clear debris from a flooded street in the Driftwood Acres Mobile Home Park, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Eta, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, in Davie, Fla. Tropical Storm Eta was squatting off western Cuba on Tuesday after drifting away from South Florida, where it unleashed a deluge that flooded entire neighborhoods and covered the floors of some homes and businesses. Subsequently, a tropical storm warning was issued for the same general area. The storm has been in the Gulf of Mexico since crossing over South Florida on Sunday. Ron DeSantis issued an expanded emergency declaration to include 13 counties along or near the Gulf coast, adding them to South Florida counties.
At least 1 dead as Hurricane Zeta hammers Gulf Coast
Hurricane Zeta passed through Wednesday leaving much of the city and metro area without power. Even as Zeta battered the south, the upcoming election was still on the mind of some residents. โGuys, we received the brunt of Zeta, and Zeta gave us a good punch,โ McInnis told WDSU-TV. More than 875,000 customers were without electricity in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including about 350,000 in metro New Orleans. Winds could be โespecially severeโ in the southern Appalachian Mountains, where flash flooding is possible, the hurricane center said.
Winds and rain whip Yucatan resorts as Hurricane Zeta nears
Clouds gather over Playa Gaviota Azul as Tropical Storm Zeta approaches Cancun, Mexico, early Monday morning, Oct. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Victor Ruiz Garcia)MIAMI โ Hurricane Zeta lashed Mexico's Caribbean coast resorts around Tulum with high winds and rain Monday night as it headed toward the Yucatan Peninsula and then a possible landfall on the central U.S. Gulf Coast at midweek. It was the second time this month that boat captain Francisco Sosa Rosado had to perform the same maneuver, after Hurricane Delta hit the resort in early October. Trees felled by Hurricane Delta barely three weeks earlier still littered parts of Cancun, stacked along roadsides and in parks. There was also a Tropical Storm Zeta in 2005, but that year had 28 storms because meteorologists later went back and found they missed one, which then became an โunnamed named storm."
Zeta Zooming Offshore The Mid-Atlantic Coast Toward The Western Atlantic
Zeta is moving toward the east-northeast near 55 mph (89 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue through tonight. On the forecast track, the center of Zeta will emerge over the western Atlantic this evening. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. A sustained wind of 39 mph (63 km/h) and a gust to 46 mph (74 km/h) were recently reported at Ocean City, Maryland. RAINFALL: The last of the heavy rainfall along the track of Zeta will impact the Mid-Atlantic through this evening.
Suit: Feds ignore risk of huge spills to endangered species
Environmental groups have asked a federal court to toss out the government's assessment of oil and gas activity's likely effects on endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico. A lawsuit filed Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, says the report doesnt consider the likelihood of another catastrophic oil spill like BP's Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010. He predicted the litigation will be lengthy because both the report and suit cover a huge area and many species. It will be largely a battle of experts, he said, but allegations about ignoring large spills are a strength of the suit. The suit said NOAA underestimated the largest spill likely.
Delta adds insult to injury in hurricane-ravaged Louisiana
Marcus Peterson walks past a downed tree in his yard after Hurricane Delta moved through, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, in Jennings, La. It then moved over Lake Charles, a city where Hurricane Laura damaged nearly every home and building in late August. While Delta was a weaker storm than Category 4 Laura, it brought significantly more flooding, Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said. Forecasters warned that heavy rain, storm surges and flash floods continued to pose dangers in areas from Texas to Mississippi. They arrived back in Lake Charles last weekend, got a new roof on Monday and had to evacuate again Thursday.
Hurricane Delta inflicts new damage on storm-weary Louisiana
This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, and provided by NOAA, shows Hurricane Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. โ Ripping tarps from already damaged roofs and scattering debris piled by roadsides, Hurricane Delta inflicted a new round of destruction on Louisiana as it struck communities still reeling after Hurricane Laura took a similar path just six weeks earlier. Delta's reach stretched as far west as Galveston, Texas, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from where the storm struck Louisiana. Tropical Storm Marco fizzled as it hit the southeast Louisiana tip just three days before Laura struck. โThe wind is much worse than what Hurricane Laura brought,โ Gove said in a message on Twitter.
Experts: Warming makes Delta, other storms power up faster
This Oct. 8, 2020 photo made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Delta in the Gulf of Mexico at 12:41 p.m. EDT. Delta is the sixth storm this year and the second in a week to reach the threshold, Lillo calculated. Hurricanes Hannah, Laura, Sally and Teddy and tropical storm Gamma all gained at least 35 mph (56 kph) in strength in 24 hours. This year is particularly nasty and Delta is a good example, said study co-author Gabriel Vecchi, a Princeton climate scientist. โThis season has given a lot of examples of these rapidly intensifying storms that we expect to be more common,โ Princetonโs Vecchi said.
Can we retire a Greek hurricane name? Delta made us wonder.
Louisiana residents who are still recovering from the devastation of a powerful hurricane less than two months ago braced for another hit as Hurricane Delta steamed north through the Gulf on Thursday after swiping Mexicoโs Yucatan Peninsula, the Associated Press reported. โThey do not retire Greek alphabet storm names -- at least so far,โ Gross said. The last time we went through all the letters of the alphabet and moved on to the Greek alphabet was 2005. In 2005, a record-breaking year of devastating hurricanes, we made it through six Greek letters. The Committee also agreed that it was not practical to retire into hurricane history a letter in the Greek alphabet.
'This is not a bad dream': New hurricane menaces Louisiana
Louisiana residents still recovering from the devastation of a powerful hurricane less than two months ago braced for another hit as Hurricane Delta steamed north through the Gulf on Thursday after swiping Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula. The projected path included the southwest area of Louisiana where Category 4 Hurricane Laura made landfall less than two months ago. Randazzo watched pieces of one of his restaurants, Panorama Music House, fly past a meteorologistโs car on a Facebook Live video during Hurricane Laura. The most recent forecast for Hurricane Delta has the storm making landfall โalmost preciselyโ where Hurricane Laura struck โ a region where homes and electrical infrastructure are still damaged, Edwards said in a radio interview. New Orleans, well to the east of the projected landfall area, was expected to escape the worst of Hurricane Delta.
Metro Detroit weather: Calmer, cooler before unseasonable warmth returns
Weโll get calmer and cooler for a brief period before unseasonable warmth returns, while Hurricane Delta regroups in the Gulf on its way to the states. Mainly dry weekAfter Wednesdayโs early morning showers, most of us wonโt see a drop of rain until early next week. Delta regroupsAfter smashing into Mexicoโs Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday morning, Hurricane Delta is getting its act together in the warmer, calmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But this should still be a major hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph when it roars ashore Friday afternoon. Remember, the Local 4Casters app has a great way to track this storm.
Hurricane Delta now Category 2, roars at Mexicoโs Yucatan
Fishermen pull in a boat before the arrival of Hurricane Delta in Puerto Juarez, Cancun, Mexico, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified into a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane Tuesday on a course to hammer southeastern Mexico and then continue on to the U.S. Gulf coast this week. (AP Photo/Victor Ruiz Garcia)MEXICO CITY โ Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified into a dangerous Category 4 storm Tuesday while on a course to hammer Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and then continue on to the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week. From Tulum to Cancun, tourism-dependent communities still soaked by the remnants of Tropical Storm Gamma could bear the brunt of Delta. Delta increased in strength 80 mph, more than doubling from a 60 mph storm at 2 pm EDT Monday to 140 mph at 2 pm EDT Tuesday.
Post-Tropical Remnants Of Delta Continue Weaken, As The Heavy Rainfall Threat Diminishes Late Sunday Night
Location 90 miles S of Knoxville Tennessee Wind 15 mph Heading E at 15 mph Pressure 29.77 Coordinates 84.1W, 34.5NDiscussionAt 1100 PM EDT (0300 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Delta was located near latitude 34.5 North, longitude 84.1 West. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the east near 15 mph, and this motion is expected to continue tonight and Monday morning. Maximum sustained winds are near 15 mph (30 km/h) with higher gusts. Some further weakening is possible tonight as a new surface low develops in the Carolinas, and Delta's surface low is expected to be absorbed by this new low pressure area on Monday. Moderate to major river flooring will continue across the Calcasieu and Mermentau river basins in Louisiana through much of next week
$215M in BP oil spill money to restore Louisiana marshes
โ Louisiana will get nearly $215 million in BP oil spill money for two projects planned to restore more than 4,600 acres of marsh and other habitat in the New Orleans area, Gov. The money is from BPโs $8.8 billion settlement for natural resources damage caused by the blowout that killed 11 men and spewed more than 100 million gallons (380 million liters) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, leaving long-lasting effects. โThe Mississippi River created our parish and the many historic ridges of our landscape,โ said Plaquemines Parish President Kirk Lepine. It was based partly on the judgeโs estimate that the 87-day Deepwater Horizon spill spewed nearly 134 million gallons (507 million liters) of crude into the Gulf โ enough to fill the U.S. Capitol rotunda 13 times. Federal experts estimated the total at more than 176 million gallons (666 million liters), while BP estimated 102 million gallons (386 million liters).
Tropical Storm Beta spurs hurricane worries for Texas
MIAMI โ An exceptionally busy Atlantic hurricane season was churning along Saturday as the Texas coast prepared for a tropical storm that could strengthen into a hurricane before breaching its shores in the week ahead. Both the city of Galveston and Galveston County on Saturday issued voluntary evacuation orders ahead of Tropical Storm Beta, as did the city of Seabrook to the north of Galveston. Forecasters issued a tropical storm warning from Port Aransas, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana. Beta had maximum sustained winds at 60 mph (95 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 2 mph (4 kph) Saturday night. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Bermuda.
Heavy Rainfall Threat With Beta Has Diminished As The Center Has Become Less Determinant In The Pressure And Wind Fields
Location 60 miles NNE of Birmingham Alabama Wind 10 mph Heading NE at 10 mph Pressure 29.83 Coordinates 86.3W, 34.3NDiscussionAt 400 AM CDT (0900 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Beta was located near latitude 34.3 North, longitude 86.3 West. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the northeast near 10 mph (17 km/h) until it becomes indistinguishable within the background wind and pressure field by mid-afternoon Friday. Maximum sustained winds are near 10 mph (20 km/h) with higher gusts. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1010 mb (29.83 inches). Tropics Satellite at 3:39 Friday Night, September 25thWatches and WarningsThere are no watches or warnings in effect.
Plodding and powerful, Sally moves in on Gulf Coast
Hurricane Sally is expected to make landfall along the Gulf Coast sometime through the night and morning. โ Hurricane Sally, a plodding but powerful storm with winds of 100 mph, crept toward the northern Gulf Coast early Tuesday, with forecasters warning of potentially deadly storm surges, flash floods spurred by up to 2 feet (.61 meters) of rain and the possibility of tornadoes. Claunch marveled at how the Gulf waters had already crept over swaths of sandy shore and infiltrated bike paths and parking lots. Sally achieved hurricane strength Monday and quickly intensified to a Category 2 storm with 100 mph (161 kph) winds. Forecasters expect winds to increase to up to 110 mph (177 kph) over the warm Gulf waters before the storm blows ashore.
Sally strengthens into extremely dangerous Category 2 storm
This satellite photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Sally, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, at 2050 GMT. Sally churned northward on Sunday, poised to turn into a hurricane and send a life-threatening storm surge along the northern Gulf of Mexico. (NOAA via AP)Here are the latest developments on tropical weather (all times local):4 p.m.A rapidly intensifying Hurricane Sally is closing in on the northern Gulf Coast Sally after reaching Category 2 strength. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Sally has grown into an extremely dangerous hurricane with top sustained winds of 100 mph (155 kph). The storm could drop as much as 2 feet (0.6 meters) of rain in spots and that could bring severe flooding, according to the center.
New Orleans under hurricane watch from Tropical Storm Sally
MIAMI โ Tropical Storm Sally formed Saturday off south Florida, becoming the earliest 18th-named storm on record in an Atlantic hurricane season as it enters the Gulf of Mexico amid signs of strengthening further. In the National Hurricane Center's 5 p.m. forecast, meteorologists said a hurricane watch is in effect for metropolitan New Orleans. A tropical storm watch has been extended westward from the Okaloosa/Walton County Line to the Alabama/Florida Border. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Paulette had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) and was 460 miles (745 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda, where a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning are in effect. Tropical Storm Rene weakened in recent hours and was reclassified as a tropical depression.
Post-Tropical Depression Sally Starting To Accelerate But Still Producing Heavy Rainfall Over Eastern North Carolina And Southeast Virginia
The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the northeast near 15 mph (24 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue tonight. The stronger winds are primarily located along and offshore the South and North Carolina coasts. Tropics Satellite at 9:49 Thursday Evening, September 17thWatches and WarningsFlood and Flash Flood Watches are in effect across portions of South Carolina, North Carolina, and southeast Virginia. Tropics Models at 2:11 Friday Night, September 18thLand HazardsRAINFALL/FLOODING: Sally is expected to produce an additional 1 to 4 inches of rainfall across portions of eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia. TORNADOES: A tornado or two may occur across eastern North Carolina tonight.
Watch live: Tracking Hurricane Laura
Watch live satellite tracking and forecasting of Hurricane Laura. Laura rapidly gained strength Wednesday, raising fears that it could come ashore as a Category 4 hurricane with a 20-foot storm surge that forecasters said would be โunsurvivableโ and capable of sinking entire communities. Satellite images show that Laura has become โa formidable hurricaneโ in recent hours, threatening to smash homes and sink entire communities. A Category 4 hurricane will do catastrophic damage: โPower outages will last weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months,โ the weather service says.
Laura strengthens into 'extremely dangerous' Category 4
Victoria Nelson with her children Autum Nelson, 2, Shawn Nelson, 7, and Asia Nelson, 6, line up to board a bus to evacuate Lake Charles, La., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, ahead of Hurricane Laura. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)GALVESTON, Texas โ Laura strengthened Wednesday into a menacing Category 4 hurricane, raising fears of a 20-foot storm surge that forecasters said would be "unsurvivableโ and capable of sinking entire communities. In Lake Charles, National Guard members drove school buses around neighborhoods, offering to pick up families. By Wednesday afternoon, Laura had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph) as it churned about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Lake Charles, Louisiana, moving northwest at 16 mph (26 kph). Forecasters predict winds will reach at least 145 mph winds but may weaken ever so slightly before landfall.
Oil and gas industry assesses damage at refineries, plants
Oil and gas producers evacuated platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and companies shut down refineries in the storm's path. More than 900,000 customers were without power in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, according to the website PowerOutage.Us, which tracks utility reports. The oil industry has been hammered since the start of the year, struggling with low prices after the coronavirus decimated demand. At the same time, OPEC was flooding the market with crude, aiming with success to put American oil producers out of business. Producers shut in 84% of the oil produced in the region, taking about 1.6 million barrels per day off the market.
Oil industry shuts platforms, rigs, refineries before storm
Oil and gas producers have evacuated platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and companies are shutting down refineries in the storm's path. At the same time, OPEC was flooding the market with crude, aiming with success to put American oil producers out of business. OFF-SHORE PLATFORMSNearly half of the oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico almost 300 were evacuated by Wednesday, along with most of the offshore rigs. Producers shut in 84% of the oil produced in the region, taking about 1.6 million barrels per day off the market. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey stalled over Houston, dumping so much rain that flooding knocked out nearly a quarter of the nations refining capacity.
As 2 storms menace Gulf Coast, residents brace for deluge
Forecasters raised the ominous possibility that warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico could super-charge Laura into a powerful hurricane. Laura's center was remaining just off Cuba's shore, and was not expected to weaken over land before entering the gulf. That's a recipe for damaging, hurricane-force winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph) as Laura approaches the U.S. coast, forecasters said. Rain bands from both storms could bring a combined total of 2 feet (0.6 meters) of rain to parts of Louisiana and several feet of potentially deadly storm surge, forecasters said. Basically that would be 10-feet plus along the southwest Louisiana coast line in a reasonable worst-case scenario, Schott said.
Laura Continues West-Northwestward Over The Far Northwestern Caribbean Sea.
Location 65 miles ESE of Cayo Largo Wind 60 mph Heading WNW at 20 mph Pressure 29.59 Coordinates 80.6W, 21.2NDiscussionAt 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Laura was located near latitude 21.2 North, longitude 80.6 West. Laura is then forecast to move over the central and northwestern Gulf of Mexico Tuesday night and Wednesday, and approach the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday night. WIND: Tropical storm conditions are expected to spread westward within the warning area in Cuba through today. Tropical storm conditions are expected in Little Cayman and Cayman Brac today. Tropical storm conditions are also expected within the warning area in the middle and lower Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas this afternoon and tonight.
Watch live: NASA astronauts return to Earth on SpaceXs Crew Dragon
DETROIT Watch live coverage of SpaceXs Crew Dragon as it returns to Earth from the International Space Station. Two months ago NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley made history by launching into space from U.S. soil for the first time in nearly a decade. The splashdown takes place off the coast of Pensacola on the Gulf of Mexico. Live coverage
US astronauts pack up for rare splashdown in SpaceX capsule
This image made available by NASA astronaut Bob Behnken on Friday, July 31, 2020, shows him inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. SpaceX and NASA plan to bring Behnken and Doug Hurley back Sunday afternoon, aiming for splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida Panhandle. (NASA via AP)
US astronauts pack up for rare splashdown in SpaceX capsule
This image made available by NASA astronaut Bob Behnken on Friday, July 31, 2020, shows him inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. SpaceX and NASA plan to bring Behnken and Doug Hurley back Sunday afternoon, aiming for splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida Panhandle. (NASA via AP)
US astronauts pack up for rare splashdown in SpaceX capsule
Astronauts returning in the early 1970s from Skylab, NASAs first space station, did not feel well following splashdown, Hurley noted. Feeling sick is the way it is with a water landing, he said during the crews final news conference from the International Space Station. The capsule has been docked at the space station since May 31, allowing Hurley and Behnken to chip in with spacewalks and experiments. The plan is for the Dragon to undock from the space station on Saturday, a day before splashdown. We wont leave the space station without some good landing opportunities in front of us, good splashdown weather, Behnken told reporters.
Tropical Storm Cristobal advances toward US Gulf Coast
MIAMI A re-energized Tropical Storm Cristobal advanced toward the U.S. Gulf Coast early Saturday, bringing with it the heavy rains that already caused flooding and mudslides in Mexico and Central America. After weakening to a tropical depression while moving over land in Mexico's Gulf coast, Cristobal headed back into the southern Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday and powered back up into a tropical storm. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 7 a.m. advisory Saturday that the storm was expected to slowly strengthen until it makes landfall, expected Sunday night along the U.S. Gulf Coast. A tropical storm watch was posted for the northern Gulf of Mexico coast from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Alabama-Florida border. Cristobal formed this week in the Bay of Campeche from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda, which had sprung up last weekend in the eastern Pacific and hit Central America.
Tropical Storm Cristobal drenching Mexico's Gulf coast
MEXICO CITY Tropical Storm Cristobal is creeping along just inland over Mexicos Gulf coast state of Campeche, threatening to cause flooding the next few days before a predicted turn northward toward the U.S. The storms sustained winds weakened to 45 mph (75 kph) after it moved inland Wednesday near the oil town of Ciudad del Carmen. Cristobal was forecast to be out in the central Gulf on Saturday and could be nearing the U.S. Gulf Coast by Sunday, the hurricane center said. Cristobal formed Tuesday from the remnants of the Pacific Tropical Storm Amanda that had caused deadly flooding and landslides in Central America. In 2016, Tropical Storm Colin formed in the Gulf on June 5.
Tropical Storm Cristobal makes landfall on Mexico Gulf coast
MEXICO CITY Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall in Mexicos Gulf coast state of Campeche Wednesday, dumping heavy rain on the already soaked region, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. But until then, forecasters expect Cristobal to meander along Mexicos Gulf coast, causing severe flooding. Cristobal formed Tuesday from the remnants of the Pacific Tropical Storm Amanda that had caused deadly flooding and landslides in Central America. Cristobal was the earliest third named storm of an Atlantic hurricane season on record; in 2016, Tropical Storm Colin formed in the Gulf on June 5. Forecasts call for 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain along Mexico's Gulf coast and more in isolated areas.
Plan would protect 21 coral hot spots in Gulf of Mexico
Federal regulators are close to approving a protection plan for vulnerable corals in the Gulf of Mexico that would create new protected zones designed to allow the corals to grow. The plan would create 21 protected areas off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Pew Charitable Trusts has characterized the plan as a way to protect nearly 500 square miles of slow-growing coral hot spots, and is championing the protection plan as a way to spare vulnerable corals from fishing gear. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National Marine Fisheries Service is taking comments about the proposal until Nov. 25. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, a regulatory panel, approved the plan last year, but NOAA must still provide final approval.