As Tropical Storm Carlos churns in the Pacific, threatening Mexico’s coast, the Atlantic’s second storm of the year may be developing over the Yucatan Peninsula, with the potential to reach Texas and Louisiana and flood Houston for the second time in a month.
Carlos, with winds dropping to 70 miles (113 kilometers) per hour from 75 mph earlier, was about 75 miles south-southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an 11 a.m. New York-time advisory. It was moving northwest at 2 mph and is forecast to regain hurricane strength, with winds of at least 74 mph, by Monday.
Winds of at least 39 mph are forecast along the coast through Monday, while heavy rain may fall in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco.
“These rains may produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides, especially in areas of high terrain,” the advisory said.
Carlos, the third named storm of the eastern Pacific season, has prompted hurricane warnings and watches from Manzanillo to Tecpan de Galeana.
In eastern Mexico, thunderstorms that have broken out across the Yucatan, as well as Guatemala and Belize, have a 60 percent chance of becoming a tropical system by Tuesday, according to the hurricane center in Miami.
The U.S. Air Force Reserve is scheduled to fly into the budding system Sunday afternoon to gather more detailed data. If this storm develops it would become Bill, the second of the Atlantic season.
Houston Threat
There’s a chance the storm will come ashore anywhere from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, if it develops, said Evan Duffy, a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. The forecast models will be able to give a more accurate outlook once an actual center forms.
Regardless of its chances of becoming a named system, which happens when its winds reach 39 mph, the rain is likely to reach Texas in a few days, Duffy said.
“We have a very serious flood threat that will be occurring across Texas,” Duffy said. “The big area of concern is Houston, where there are still flood gauges showing major and moderate flooding.”
From 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 centimeters) of rain may fall across the Houston area, with isolated amounts of as much as 10 inches possible, according to the National Weather Service.
Houston was inundated last month, with flood waters closing highways and interrupting fuel supplies. More than 2,500 homes were damaged and $11 million in federal assistance had been approved, according to the Houston Chronicle.
At least 31 people were killed in Texas and Oklahoma during the May floods, according to the Weather Channel.