Hurricane Delta is an "extremely dangerous" major hurricane on a collision course with Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the US Gulf Coast. It will directly impact Cancun as a dangerous Category 4 storm on Tuesday night.
"The hurricane is in the midst of a very impressive rapid intensification episode," the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday.
In fact, Delta's winds have increased by 85 mph in 24 hours. That's the largest jump in wind speed in October since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, the last major hurricane to strike Cancun.
While the Yucatan peninsula sticks out like a thumb south of the Gulf of Mexico, there have only been six hurricanes that passed within 50 miles of Cancun in the past 100 years.
"Only two of them have been Major hurricanes, Gilbert in 1988 (a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds) and Wilma in 2005 (A Category 4 hurricane with 130 mp winds)," said CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller.
Gilbert and Wilma were both legendary storms and "are actually the top two most intense storms on record by lowest pressure in the Atlantic's history," said Miller.
Both of those storms devastated Cancun's tourism industry, which took years to rebuild.
Landfall is expected near Cancun on Wednesday morning, as a powerful Category 4 storm with 140 mph or greater wind speeds.
"It could be stronger than indicated," the NHC said.
"It could be stronger than indicated," the NHC said.
Delta is currently "the strongest Greek alphabet named Atlantic hurricane on record," Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University, tweeted.
Impacts from Delta will be felt tonight through Wednesday, across the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba as the storm passes through.
A storm surge of 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels is possible along the coast of the peninsula within the warning areas.
Rainfall amounts of 4 to 6 inches are possible with isolated amounts reaching 10 inches. Dangerous flash flooding and mudslides are also possible across western Cuba.
Hurricane-force winds extend 25 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend up to 90 miles from the center.
Louisiana prepares for a 4th landfall this year
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards warned coastal parishes that it is time to prepare for Hurricane Delta. "It is common for many people to experience hurricane fatigue during a busy season, but we need everyone to take this threat seriously," said Edwards.
Louisiana's State Emergency Operations Center has been activated since March because of the coronavirus pandemic and is still dealing with the recovery from Hurricane Laura, which struck the area in August.
If Delta makes landfall in Louisiana, it will be the fourth landfall of a named storm this year in the state. Something that has never happened.
"The most recent season with three landfalling storms was 2005 with Cindy, Katrina, and Rita affecting the most southwestern and southeastern regions of Louisiana," Jhordanne Jones, a researcher at Colorado State University, tells CNN weather.
"The most recent season with three landfalling storms was 2005 with Cindy, Katrina, and Rita affecting the most southwestern and southeastern regions of Louisiana," Jhordanne Jones, a researcher at Colorado State University, tells CNN weather.
From Mexico, the storm is forecast to move into the western Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday into Thursday but isn't expected to hit the US coast until overnight Friday into Saturday.
The Gulf may be conducive for Delta to maintain its impact, but with three days until it reaches the US, forecasts are still uncertain, said CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
Current guidance suggests Delta will make landfall somewhere between the border of of Texas and Louisiana to the border of Alabama and Florida as a Category 3 hurricane.
"Although there is still significant uncertainty regarding Delta's intensity when it nears the northern Gulf coast, it is becoming increasing likely that the system will pose a significant wind and storm surge threat to a portion of that area," according to the National Hurricane Center.
The season's 25th named storm
Delta's intensification turned it into the 25th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. That includes 21 named storms in the standard list of names along with the now four named storms in the Greek alphabet, Javaheri said.
This is only the second time the Greek letter Delta has been used for any named storm and it is the earliest-ever 25th Atlantic storm. The previous was Delta on November 15, 2005.
With nearly eight weeks still left in the hurricane season, the number of named storms is nearing the all-time record for one season in 2005 when 28 storms were recorded.
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Hurricane Delta is intensifying rapidly and is now a Category 4 storm - CNN
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