Record breaking hurricane season continues as Delta hits Cancun

Mexican authorities clear away downed trees blocking roads in the beach resort of Cancun. Hurricane delta made landfall with 165km/h winds early Wednesday morning. (Reed Timmer via Facebook)

The tropics have become active once again, with the 25th name storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season making landfall near Cancun, Mexico early Wednesday morning. Hurricane Delta moved briefly inland over the northern Yucatan Peninsula, before moving back into the extreme southern Gulf of Mexico. Delta was a category 2 storm with 175km/h winds at landfall, down from the 235km/h category 4 winds the storm had late Tuesday. At 2pm ET, Delta was located 110km east, northeast of Progreso and moving northwest at 28km/h. Winds were down to 155km/h due to the interaction with land.

Satellite image of Hurricane Delta moving across the Yucatan Peninsula and emerging back over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday morning. (NOAA)

As I write this post, it appears most of the damage at this time has been to trees and power lines. There are reports of flooding and some structural damage to hotels and buildings along the Mexican Riviera, but far less damage than was earlier feared. It still comes as a blow to the region that has been suffering from a lack of tourists during the worldwide Covid crisis. The first European tourists in months arrived on October 1st aboard a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt, Germany with 260 passengers, most of which were either evacuated or ordered to shelter in place to ride out the hurricane. Many tourists chose to leave in advance of the storm, at least until flights were cancelled due to Delta.

Delta will now simmer in the Gulf of Mexico for a few days before taking a run at the Louisiana coast by Friday. The storm is forecast to intensify back to a category 4 hurricane before weakening slightly on approach to the US Gulf Coast. A hurricane watch is in effect from the upper Texas coast to Grand Isle, Louisiana. Evacuations will likely be ordered for a portion of the coast as the forecast becomes more clear.

Delta will become the record-breaking 10th storm to strike the US coastline in 2020 when it arrives along the Gulf Coast on Friday. This will surpass the record of 9 storms set all the way back in 1916. The list of names presented by the World Meteorological Organization has been exhausted in 2020 for only the second time in history. The National Hurricane Center will now use the Greek alphabet for all remaining storms in 2020. Keep in mind the season is far from over, ending only on November 30th.