Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Late Tuesday, a system being tracked in the Atlantic formed into a tropical storm. The first named storm in more than a month. The newly developed Tropical Storm Fred has gained power and continues to move across Caribbean waters toward the US.
As of Wednesday, the storm is set at making landfall on Hispaniola and Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 50. Tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect for a majority of the Caribbean islands as Fred moves west-northwest at 16 miles per hour.
As of Wednesday morning, Tropical Storm Fred was located approximately 5,000 kilometers east of the state of Quintana Roo, posing no risk to Mexico. However, the NOAA reports heavy rainfall for parts of Haiti and the Bahamas today, while the system moves toward the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.
Forecasters anticipate Fred will also bring heavy rainfall as a tropical storm when it lands Florida this weekend.