Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Eastern Pacific Ocean:

Hurricane Cristina, the third named storm and second hurricane of the 2014 Eastern Pacific hurricane season continues to strengthen and churn to the west of the coast of Mexico.

It initially formed as Tropical Depression Three-E Monday afternoon about 160 miles south of Zihuantanejo, Mexico. Six hours later the National Hurricane Center upgraded it to a tropical storm, giving it the third name on this year's 2014 Eastern Pacific naming list, Cristina.

Cristina is moving slowly to the west. A west to west-northwest motion is expected over the next several days. This will keep its center offshore over the next five days, and will gradually take it farther away from shore.

However, Cristina is close enough to land to have some effect on Mexico. The broader circulation around Cristina is bringing moist air onshore and wringing it out in the form of some locally heavy rain from portions of Mexico's Pacific coast northward into the Mexico City area.

In the Arabian Sea:

Tropical Cyclone 02A formed in the Arabian Sea bringing the threat of strong winds and heavy downpours to Oman. It was located near 16.6 north latitude and 68.0 east longitude, about 508 nautical miles (584 miles/941 km) south of Karachi, Pakistan. 02A has tracked north-northwestward at 8 knots. Forecasters expect 02A to turn more toward west-northwest over the next couple of days.

NewsBytes:

Brazil - Floods have killed nine people and driven tens of thousands of people from their homes while swelling rivers to record levels in southern Brazil and neighbouring Paraguay and Argentina, authorities said Tuesday, but so far they have not affected preparations for soccer's World Cup. The civil defense department in Brazil's Parana state said that 132 cities have been flooded there, including the state capital of Curitiba that will host four World Cup games. It said 13,000 people have been forced to evacuate due to torrential rains upstream.