Tropical Storm Fernand Weakens as it Moves From Gulf Over Mexico

Tropical Storm Fernand weakened to a tropical depression as it moved over Mexico on Monday.

Maximum winds in the storm dropped to about 35 mph, but it’s still dropping a lot of rain on Mexico. In the Veracruz area, people were cautioned to stay home and school classes were canceled to keep kids out of wind and rain, said The Associated Press.

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It’s expected that Fernand will dump 4 to 8 inches of rain on eastern Mexico, said Channel NewsAsia. The storm formed in quickly in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday.

Fernand was only the fifth named storm in the Atlantic Ocean this year. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had projected an unusually violent storm season for the year.

SpaceRef.com reported that Fernand came ashore with winds approaching 50 mph, but quickly lost strength. But the expected heavy rain could cause problems. The site said NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, TRMM, measured the storm’s “hot towers,” or tall clouds that looked as if rain would top 2 inches per hour.

The Weather Channel reported that the heavy rain is “causing flooding concerns” across Mexico, probably lasting through tomorrow.

Another storm, Tropical Storm Ivo, also downgraded to a tropical depression over the weekend. It formed off of Mexico, as well.

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