Hurricane Grace to Hit Cayman Islands, Cancun, and Mainland Mexico

Grace could reach hurricane strength as it passes just to the south of Grand Cayman Island tomorrow (August 18) morning. Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman Islands are under a tropical storm warning and storm surge watch. Further strengthening is expected. The National Hurricane Center could issue hurricane warnings in the current tropical storm warning area if Grace undergoes rapid intensification. The Caribbean Sear between Jamaica and the Yucatan Peninsula have a very high oceanic heat content which contributes energy to the storm. Multiple models agree that Grace will become a hurricane sometime tomorrow.

Hurricane warnings are in effect for the Yucatan Peninsula from Cancun to Cay Chal, and tropical storm warnings north from Cancun and south from Cay Chal. Grace will make landfall south of Cancun, Mexico as a strong category 1 hurricane or possibly a category 2 hurricane. Grace will bring hurricane force winds and dangerous storm surge to the Yucatan Peninsula beginning late Wednesday night and early morning Thursday.

Residents in the Cayman Islands and Yucatan Peninsula should hurry to complete final preparations before the tropical storm or hurricane arrives.

Hurricane Grace will weaken to a tropical storm after landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula. Strengthening is anticipated after it reaches the Bay of Campeche. The storm makes landfall somewhere on the eastern coast of Mexico on August 21st.

Expect tropical storm or hurricane warnings for the coasts of Campeche and Yucatan, and hurricane warnings for the east coast of Mexico. It is currently too far in advance to make accurate predictions about the storm’s landfall on the Mexico mainland.

Hurricane Watches and Tropical Storm Watches are issued by the National Hurricane Center forty-eight hours before the expected arrival of hurricane or tropical storm conditions. Hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings come thirty-six hours in advance of the hurricane or tropical storm’s arrival.

NOAA and the National Hurricane Center caution that the cone depicted on forecast maps shows the approximate future position of the storm and is not an indication of the storm’s size. A tropical storm or hurricane’s size is often much larger than the projected cone.