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Zeta Weakens After Crossing Yucatan, But Expected to Strengthen Again

VOA News

   The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Zeta -- now a tropical storm
   -has moved off the northern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and is
   likely to restrengthen into a hurricane as it moves out over the Gulf
   of Mexico later Tuesday.

   In its latest report, the hurricane center says Zeta's maximum
   sustained winds are at about 100 kilometers per hour (kph), just below
   hurricane strength. Forecasters expect the storm to move out over the
   warm waters of the gulf, strengthen later Tuesday, then pick speed as
   it moves towards the southeastern U.S. coast.

   The forecasters say on its current trajectory, Zeta will likely come
   ashore in eastern Louisiana or western Mississippi late Wednesday or
   early Thursday. The storm is likely to be a category one hurricane by
   the time it strikes the coast.

   If Zeta does come ashore in Louisiana, it will be the third major storm
   to hit the state this year, following Hurricane Laura in August and
   Delta earlier this month. The state has spent a cumulative total of at
   least three weeks in the National Hurricane Center's forecast zone for
   a possible hurricane this season.

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