Tropical Storm Cristobal advances toward US Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Cristobal advanced toward the US Gulf Coast on early Saturday, bringing with it the heavy rains that caused flooding and mudslides in Mexico and Central America.

It is expected to arrive on the US soil on late Sunday but would not grow into a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said in its 7 am advisory on Saturday that the storm was expected to slowly strengthen until it makes a landfall, expected Sunday night along the US Gulf Coast.

Tropical storm-force winds could arrive as early as Saturday evening.

Cristobal's maximum sustained winds had strengthened to 50 mph (85 kph) by early Saturday and it was moving north at 12 mph (19 kph). The storm was centered about 310 miles (500 kilometers) south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

The storm is expected to cause heavy rains from East Texas to Florida this weekend and into early next week. 

Cristobal formed this week in the Bay of Campeche from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda, which had sprung up last weekend in the eastern Pacific and hit Central America. The two storms combined to soak the region with as much as 89 centimetres of rain in some areas over the past week.

At least 30 deaths have been attributed to the two storms.