NASA sees Tropical Storm Dolores affecting Southwestern Mexico

Tropical Storm Dolores formed close to the southwestern coast of Mexico and has lingered there for a couple of days. NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of the storm riding the coast.

On July 13, a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Lazaro Cardenas to Cabo Corrientes, Mexico.

When NASA's Terra satellite passed over Tropical Storm Dolores on July 12 at 17:25 UTC (3:25 p.m. EDT), the MODIS instrument captured a visible-light image that showed the storm's northeastern quadrant over southwestern Mexico. The bulk of thunderstorms associated with Dolores were east of center,

At 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Dolores was located near latitude 16.7 North, longitude 105.3 West. That puts the center of Dolores about 175 miles (275 km) south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico.

Dolores is moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected through Wednesday. On the forecast track, Dolores will gradually move away from the southwestern coast of Mexico today. Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph (100 kph) with higher gusts.

Dolores' outer rain bands are expected to produce total rain accumulations of 2 to 4 inches along the southwestern coast of Mexico from the state of Oaxaca to Nayarit. Isolated maximum amounts of 7 inches are possible. In addition, Dolores is causing rough surf conditions that are affecting the southern and southwestern coasts of Mexico and the Baja California peninsula and will affect those areas over the next few days.

For updates on Dolores, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov