Tropical Storm Karl to move southward from Mexico

Tropical Storm Karl’s forward movement stalled off Mexico’s southern Gulf coast. However, forecasters said the halt should be brief and expect it to begin moving southward toward land early on October 13.

The storm had been heading slowly to the north before weather conditions steered it around October 12, AP reports. It was expected to be nearing the coasts of Veracruz or Tabasco states by late October 14 without strengthening into a hurricane.

The US National Hurricane Center said Karl had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph) late Wednesday. It was stationary, still centred about 255 miles (405 kilometres) north-northeast of the port city of Veracruz.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles (165 kilometres) from the centre.

The hurricane centre said Karl could drop 3 to 7 inches (8 to 18 centimetres) of rain across portions of Veracruz and Tabasco from October 14 into late October 15.

Karl formed one day after former Hurricane Julia dissipated in the Pacific after having directly or indirectly caused the deaths of at least 28 people in Central America and Mexico following its landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast.