Category 1 Hurricane Ernesto Bears Down on Yucatan Peninsula
By James Shillinglaw
August 07, 2012 10:52 PM
The National Hurricane Center last night reported that Hurricane Ernesto, now a Category 1 storm, was strengthening as it moved toward the southern Yucatan peninsula with landfall expected sometime during the night. The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour and was moving west northwest at about 18 miles per hour.
A hurricane warning is in effect for Chetumal to Tulum on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Cozumel and the coast of Belize from Belize City northward to the Mexican border. A tropical story warning is in effect for north of Tulum to Cabo Catoche on the east coast of the Yucatan, south of Belize City southward to the border of Guatemala, and Celestun southward and westward to Chilitepec along the Gulf Coast of Mexico.
