Mexico, Texas Coast Under Hurricane Watch

The northeastern Mexican and southeastern coasts of Texas were put on hurricane watch Monday as Tropical Storm Dolly advanced, forecasters in Miami said.

At 2 p.m., Dolly had cleared Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and was over the Gulf of Mexico about 475 miles east-southeast of the coast of the lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas and northeastern Mexico, moving west-northwest near 18 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Dolly had winds of 50 mph and 65 mph gusts, the report said. Strengthening was expected, and the Mexican government issued a hurricane watch from Rio San Fernando to the U.S. border. North into Texas, the watch extended north to Port O’Connor.

Dolly was expected to produce rain accumulations of 2 to 4 inches across the northern Yucatan Peninsula.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Cristobal, which formed Friday, strengthened and was 190 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., moving northeast at 13 mph with 65 mph winds and 75 mph gusts at 11 a.m., forecasters said.

Heavy swells were reported along the U.S. eastern seaboard and the storm’s projected path showed it nearing Nova Scotia, Canada, Tuesday. The Canadian Hurricane Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, officially began monitoring Cristobal Monday.