Tropical Storm Karl develops off southeastern Mexico

Tropical Storm Karl formed Tuesday afternoon in the Bay of Campeche off the southeastern coast of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.

As of 8 p.m., Karl was 110 miles east-northeast of Veracruz, Mexico. It was moving northwest at 6 mph with sustained winds of 40 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend 115 miles from the center.

[ STAY UPDATED with the latest forecast for tropical weather at SunSentinel.com/hurricane ]

A tropical storm watch was issued from Cabo Rojo to Puerto Veracruz in southeastern Mexico.

Karl is expected to gradually turn toward the west and southwest Wednesday night and approach the coast of Mexico on Thursday morning. Karl will then near the coast of Mexico later Thursday, the center’s latest advisory said.

The conditions of the atmosphere and water are expected to be favorable for Karl to further develop in the next day, but forecasters expect the storm to begin to weaken before landfall. Karl is then forecast to rapidly decline once moving over the mountainous land, the 8 p.m. advisory said.

Karl is the 11th named storm this hurricane season, a season that started off with Tropical Storm Alex forming just days after the June 1 start, and storms Bonnie and Colin followed in early July.

This season became the first in over two decades where there were no named storms in August, but September was a busy month with six named storms.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted there will be a total of 14 to 20 named storms and six to 10 hurricanes. Three to five of those hurricanes will be at least a Category 3, the agency’s prediction in August said.

Hurricane Ian made landfall near Fort Myers on Sept. 28, at Category 4 strength, fulfilling one of the agency’s predictions. At least 102 people in Florida died during Hurricane Ian.

Ian was the third-deadliest storm to come to the mainland of the United States this century after Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy.

[ PAST COVERAGE: NOAA updates 2022 Atlantic hurricane outlook, still above-average heading into peak season ]

Hurricane season ends Nov. 30. The next named storm will be Lisa.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.