Zeta strengthens to Category 1 hurricane as it heads toward Yucatan Peninsula

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tropical Storm Zeta strengthened into a hurricane Monday afternoon as it moves through the Caribbean Sea and into the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Zeta is currently located about 105 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour, and it is moving northwest at 10 miles per hour.

Zeta is forecast to move over the Yucatan Peninsula on Monday, and parts of the peninsula are under a hurricane warning. It will then head into the Gulf of Mexico and start tracking toward Louisiana, where it is expected to make landfall.

Louisiana has felt the brunt of the record setting 2020 hurricane season. So far, four named storms–Cristobal, Delta, Laura, and Marco–have made landfall in the state.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged his state’s citizens to monitor the storm, and the state activated its Crisis Action Team.

Storm Ready 2020: Preparing in a Pandemic

Zeta broke the record for the earliest storm of its name, which was set on Nov. 29, 2005.

This year’s season has so many storms that the hurricane center has turned to the Greek alphabet after running out of official names. Zeta is the furthest into the Greek alphabet the Atlantic season has gone.