Tropical Storm Franklin forms in Caribbean, heads for Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Tropical Storm Franklin has emerged in the Caribbean off the Honduras coast and is heading for Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicts Franklin will begin moving ashore Monday night and pass over Yucatan by Tuesday evening, entering the Bay of Campeche and head for landfall on the Mexican mainland Thursday evening. The centre doesn’t expect the storm to strengthen into a hurricane.

Franklin was centred about 380 miles (610 kilometres) east-southeast of Chetumal, Mexico, late Sunday. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving to the west-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

A tropical storm warning was issued for the Mexico coast from Chetumal on Yucatan’s southeast coast to Campeche on the western side.