Three separate storms — two in the Atlantic Ocean and one in the Pacific — prompted a series of weather warnings and watches on Friday for some islands in the Caribbean and parts of the United States.
Tropical Storm Gonzalo continued moving toward the Windward Islands in the Caribbean on Friday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said.
Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the center, said on Friday that it appeared that Gonzalo would not reach hurricane strength, noting that the storm’s winds had decreased to 45 miles per hour.
Gonzalo, which became a tropical storm on Wednesday, was about 445 miles east of the southern Windward Islands and was moving west at 18 m.p.h, the center said.
The government of Barbados had canceled its hurricane watch for the island, the center said, but a tropical storm warning remained in effect for the area. Tobago and Grenada were under a tropical storm watch.
Gonzalo was expected to produce two to five inches of rain, with some areas receiving as much as eight inches through Sunday night.
Tropical Storm Hanna, in the Gulf of Mexico, continued to strengthen on Friday afternoon, the center said. The system, which had maximum sustained winds of 50 m.p.h., was about 230 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas, and moving west and northwest at 9 m.p.h. A tropical storm warning remained in effect in the area for the mouth of the Rio Grande to San Luis Pass.
“This one is going to make landfall as a strong tropical storm,” Mr. Feltgen said. “The primary threat from this is going to be rainfall. Four to eight inches of rain and isolated amounts of up to a foot through Sunday night in South Texas.”
Hanna was expected to turn toward the west on Friday night and was on track to make landfall along the Texas coast on Saturday afternoon or evening, the center said. The storm was expected to weaken after moving inland.
On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas placed numerous resources on standby in anticipation of the storm’s arrival. By Friday, he began urging residents to heed guidance from local officials and to prepare.
City officials in Corpus Christi, on the Gulf Coast, said they were clearing storm drains in preparation for rain and potential flooding and that beaches in the area would be closed from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.
Douglas, a Category 3 hurricane in the Pacific Ocean, had crossed over from the Eastern Pacific Ocean to the Central Pacific Ocean on Friday, Mr. Feltgen said.
The storm was still on track to approach Hawaii, he said. There were not yet any watches or warnings. “It looks like they are going to be likely required later today,” Mr. Feltgen said.
Gov. David Ige of Hawaii on Thursday issued a pre-landfall emergency proclamation, which authorized the spending of state funds for quick and efficient disaster relief.
“The good news is that the storm is going to gradually weaken today, through the weekend, because it will be tracking over some cooler water,” Mr. Feltgen said.
Douglas was still expected to be at or near hurricane strength when it gets closer to the eastern end of the Hawaiian islands by Saturday night or Sunday, he said.
“And we don’t just focus on the wind. You have to look at the water impacts on this thing as well,” Mr. Feltgen said. “Very heavy rainfall. They could be looking at some flash flooding and tremendously rough surf. This is something residents of the Hawaiian chain need to be paying attention to.”
Hanna, which was upgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday, is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
The first tropical storm was Arthur, which formed off the coast of Florida in May, followed by Bertha, which made landfall near Charleston, S.C., at the end of the month. The systems made 2020 the sixth year in a row that a storm developed before the official start of the season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted an above normal Atlantic hurricane season, with as many as 19 named storms — of which six to 10 could become hurricanes. Three to six of those could develop into Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes, it said.
An average hurricane season produces 12 named storms, with six becoming hurricanes and three of those six developing into major hurricanes.
