NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Alex, moving slowly north-northwest with no change in wind speed, was still expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in latest advisory on Monday.
The NHC forecast Alex, located in the southwest Gulf of Mexico about 520 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas, would make landfall near the Texas-Mexico border early Thursday.
Most weather models now project the storm will hit south of the border, but two of the models still show the system making landfall on the South Texas coast.
The NHC now expects Alex to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 74-95 miles per hour by late Wednesday before striking the coast and dissipating as it moves inland on Thursday.
Earlier, the NHC predicted Alex would reach Category 2 status with winds of 96-110 mph before making landfall.
(Reporting by Joe Silha and Scott DiSavino; Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)
