Hurricane Dean was almost ready to slide off into the Bay of Campeche early this afternoon. He has weakened quite a bit today while crossing the Yucatan Peninsula. The Mexican government discontinued the Hurricane Warning for the east coast of hte Yucatan, including popular locations like Cancun.
Here are some basic facts:
LOCATION/MOVEMENT
At 1 o’clock Alabama time, the center of Dean was near latitude 19.2N, longitude 90.4W, which is about 45 miles SSE of Campeche, Mexico. Dean was moving west about 18 mph. A WNW to west motion is expected today and tonight. He may reach the southern part of the Bay of Campeche by midafternoon.
WINDS/PRESSURE
Highest sustained winds have dropped to near 85 mph with higher gusts. That is quite a come down from time of landfall when winds were around 165 mph. Dean is now a Category 1. He may regain some strength after he gets over the southern Bay of Campeche. Estimated lowest pressure at the center is 960mb or 28.35 inches.
RAIN AMOUNTS/FLOODING PROBLEMS
Still looking for 5-10 inches of rain over parts of Southern and Central Mexico, including the Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala and North Honduras. There could be some places that get up to 20 inches. This, of course, could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. Please scroll down to our 10:00 a.m. report on Dean. There is a map that is attached to that, which is still a good indicator of where Dean will move. After making landfall on the Mexican Gulf Coast, he will deteriorate to a tropical depression well inland, but he will still have the ability to dump some very heavy rain.
Press reports indicate that approximately 13 people have died as a result of Hurricane Dean so far.
Next Advisory will be at 4 o’clock this afternoon CDT.
