Kevin Roth, M. Ressler

The Weather Channel

5:00 p.m. ET 6/28/2010

Alex remains a strong tropical storm over the Bay of Campeche and the southwest Gulf and is expected to strengthen.

ATLANTIC

Alex emerged from the Yucatan Peninsula Sunday evening and has quickly reestablished itself as a strong tropical storm. As of 5 pm EDT Monday Alex was located about 520 miles to the southeast of Brownsville, Texas with top winds of 60 mph.

Alex is moving toward the north-northwest at 5 mph. A generally northwest motion is forecast for the next 2 days.

A hurricane watch has been issued from La Cruz, Mexico to the south end of Baffin Bay, Texas. A tropical storm watch has been added north of the hurricane watch from Baffin Bay to Port O'Connor. Further strengthening is likely as Alex moves over the very warm water in the Bay of Campeche and southwestern Gulf.

Atmospheric conditions also favor strengthening with very little wind shear and excellent outflow due to a large ridge of high pressure over the cyclone.

Alex should become a hurricane Tuesday, possibly as early as midday.

On its current forecast track Alex should make landfall Wednesday night, either in northeast Mexico or the lower Gulf Coast of Texas.

Heavy rain and flooding are possible over the western Yucatan Peninsula and southern Mexico through Tuesday.

Additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches are possible in the lower elevations with up to 10 inches possible in the mountains.

A surge in tropical moisture that has moved in concert with Alex has already reached the Gulf coast of the U.S. Heavy shower and thunderstorm activity should continue along the coast with more concentrated rainfall from Alex beginning to reach the coasts of northeast Mexico and south Texas Tuesday.

Increasing south-to-southeast winds along the central and western Gulf coast could cause some minor coastal flooding at high tide.

It remains quiet over the rest of the Atlantic Basin.

EASTERN PACIFIC

The eastern Pacific Ocean, Celia and Darby continue to weaken.

Celia, located (as of 2 p.m. Pacific Time Monday) about 1055 miles west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, has weakened to a tropical depression with winds near 35 miles per hour. Celia is moving east at 2 mph, well away from any land. Celia should move little as it continues to weakening, dissipating by midweek.

The final advisory (2 p.m. PDT Monday) has been issued for Tropical Depression Darby as it dissipates about a hundred miles off the southern Mexican coast.

Track the hurricane live at The Weather Channel.com