Hurricane Delta to hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, US by weekend

Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified into a powerful Category 4 “major” hurricane Tuesday with 145-mph winds in the Caribbean Sea as it heads for Mexico, then treks north toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.Delta is forecast to lash Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday with “life-threatening storm surge” and “significant flash flooding.” Though forecasters are unsure exactly where or when it could hit the USA, areas from Louisiana to the western Florida panhandle could see dangerous conditions Thursday night into Friday.The National Hurricane Center said Delta is going through “a very impressive rapid intensification episode.” Early Monday, Delta was a tropical depression that the center  pegged to muster hurricane strength Tuesday.Delta intensified by 70 mph (from 40 to 110 mph) in the first 24 hours since it became a named storm, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. This is the most intensification in a 24-hour period for an October Atlantic named storm since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.As of 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Delta had winds up to 145 mph and was powering forward west-northwest at 17 mph. The storm was about 180 miles east-southeast of the Mexican island of Cozumel, forecasters said.”I honestly don’t see much that will stop it until it reaches Yucatan,” a forecaster wrote in the hurricane center’s update at 5 a.m. The worst impacts were expected along the resort-studded northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, where hurricane conditions were forecast Tuesday night and landfall early Wednesday. From Tulum to Cancun, tourism-dependent communities being soaked Tuesday by the remnants of Tropical Storm Gamma could bear the brunt of the storm.Delta could have winds of about 140 mph when it hits Mexico, forecasters said. Though it could lose strength as it tears through Mexico, “conditions look ripe for re-intensification” once it continues on to the USA, the hurricane center said.Delta would be the 10th named storm to hit the USA in a single season, an all-time record. This year has tied 1916 for nine tropical systems that made landfall in the USA, AccuWeather said. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a state of emergency Tuesday that she said would let officials seek federal aid more quickly if needed.Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards also declared a state of emergency Tuesday and said he plans to ask President Donald Trump for a pre-landfall disaster declaration Wednesday.Delta is the earliest 25th named storm in an Atlantic hurricane season. The Hurricane Center turned to the Greek alphabet for naming storms, something it has done only once before, after more than 21 named storms formed, exhausting the preapproved name list.Two hurricanes have reached “major” status this year, meaning their wind speeds reached at least 111 mph, a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.Hurricane Laura devastated parts of Louisiana and southeastern Texas when it roared ashore as a Category 4. Hurricane Teddy never made landfall in the USA but brushed past New England on its way to Canada.Hurricane Sally, not a “major” hurricane in terms of wind speed, still caused severe flooding to parts of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle where it dumped 30 inches of rain.The historically active hurricane season has caused some to speculate whether climate change contributes to the number and intensity of storms. Though no single weather event can be solely pegged to global warming, scientists have found that human-caused climate change makes strong storms even stronger.Dual disasters:How is climate change worsening wildfires and hurricanes?Warmer air holds more moisture, making storms rainier, and rising seas make storm surges higher and more damaging.Scientists have seen tropical storms and hurricanes slow down once they hit the USA by about 17% since 1900, and that gives them the opportunity to unload more rain over one place, as Sally did in the Southeast and 2017’s Hurricane Harvey did in Houston.Contributing: Jessica Flores, USA TODAY; Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post;Greg Hilburn, Monroe News-Star; The Associated Press

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