By Chris Baltimore
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Dolly intensified overthe warm waters of the western Gulf of Mexico as it bore downon southern Texas on Tuesday, but forecasters don't expect itto reach catastrophic strength before hitting land near theMexican border on Wednesday.
The storm, with sustained winds of nearly 70 miles per hour(110 km per hour), emerged from the Yucatan Peninsula over thewarm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A hurricane watch was issuedfor the southern Texas coast, the U.S. National HurricaneCenter said.
At 11 a.m. EDT (4 p.m. British time), Dolly was 230 miles(370 km) southeast of the border town of Brownsville, Texas,where it is due to come ashore on Wednesday as a low-gradehurricane.
The storm's predicted landfall and strength are unlikely tojeopardize sensitive offshore drilling rigs and productionplatforms in the U.S. and Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico.U.S. crude oil prices on Tuesday fell over $4 a barrel.
The United States has largely escaped the past two Atlantichurricane seasons, with just one hurricane -- Humberto inNovember 2007 -- making landfall on its coasts.
But it was pummelled in 2004 and 2005, when a series ofpowerful hurricanes, including the catastrophic Katrina,ravaged Florida and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The National Hurricane Center said Dolly is unlikely tobecome a major hurricane prior to landfall, but could dump asmuch as 15 inches (38 cm) of rain on South Texas andnortheastern Mexico in coming days.
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season is already a month aheadof schedule, but is unlikely to see a repeat of the devastating2005 season. On average, the fourth tropical storm of thesix-month season does not occur until August 29. Dolly, thisyear's fourth, formed on July 20.
"It absolutely does mean something, and we should belooking at it with trepidation," said Jeff Masters, co-founderof meteorological website The Weatherunderground.
In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry put 1,200 National Guard troopson alert, and told citizens to take precautions, although nomandatory evacuations were ordered.
"We want the citizens to get out their plan, make thedecisions on when they're going to go, where they're going togo, but get your batteries and everything stocked up, get yourcars full of gasoline," said Henry Garrett, mayor of thecoastal city of Corpus Christi.
In Mexico, Dolly had dumped rain in the popular resort ofCancun in the Yucatan Peninsula, but no major damage wasreported.
The northeastern state of Tamaulipas on Mexico's Gulf Coastissued a hurricane warning and began preparing dozens ofbuildings to receive possible evacuees.
(Reporting by Chris Baltimore in Houston, Jim Forsyth inSan Antonio and Michael Christie in Miami, editing by PatriciaZengerle)
(For latest U.S. National Hurricane Center reports, seehttp://www.nhc.noaa.gov/)
