Tropical Storm Dolly slowly organizing

Tim Ballisty, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel
11:28 p.m. ET 7/21/2008

As of 11pm EDT, Tropical Storm Dolly was located about 345 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph. It is moving to the west at 17 mph.

Tropical Storm Dolly has spent the majority of Monday over the very warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico but it struggled mightily to organize and intensify.

With a favorable atmospheric environment in place and Gulf of Mexico water temperatures near 85 degrees, Dolly was expected to strengthen throughout the day. That being said, this evening, satellite images show Dolly is finally getting its act together and thunderstorms are developing around the center of circulation.

Even with its sluggish development, Dolly is still forecast to reach hurricane status some time on Tuesday.

A hurricane warning has been issued from Port O’Connor, Texas, southward to Rio San Fernando, Mexico.

Rain bands from the outer fringes of Dolly will begin to impact south Texas coastline Tuesday afternoon with deteriorating conditions as Dolly approaches.

A landfall is anticipated near the Texas/Mexico border by Wednesday afternoon or evening. Residents of South Padre Island, Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen, and Corpus Christi (along with surrounding areas) should pay very close to Tropical Storm Dolly as it travels across the western Gulf of Mexico.

Along the East Coast, Tropical Storm Cristobal is strengthening but also moving away from North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Its main impacts along the United States’ East Coast will be rough surf and dangerous rip currents from Cape Hatteras northward to Cape Cod today, while most of the rainfall and strong winds stay away from the coast.

As of 11 pm EDT, Cristobal was located about 360 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, with maximum sustained winds near 60 mph. It is moving to the east-northeast near 16 miles per hour. By Wednesday, Cristobal will likely become extratropical.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic basin, a strong tropical wave is emerging into the Atlantic. This wave will need to be monitored for possible development.

In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Fausto is weakening it drifts away from the Mexican coastline.

As of 8pm PDT, Fausto was located about 590 miles west of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Maximum sustained winds were 70 mph. It is moving to the west-northwest near 13 miles per hour. Fausto will continue to weaken tonight and tomorrow; likely becoming a depression by Tuesday afternoon.

Elsewhere in the eastern Pacific, at 8pm PDT Tropical Storm Genevieve had sustained winds of 40 mph. Genevieve is 325 miles south of Manzanillo. It is moving to the west-northwest at 18 mph and will continue on this track during the next several days; staying south of Mexico and taking a path similar to Fausto.