Tropical Storm Paul Continues Weakening

Tropical Storm Paul is expected to slowly move off to the northwest, parallel to the Baja Peninsula's west coast.

Courtesy: Accuweather.com

(STATE COLLEGE,, PA Accuweathter.com) - Tropical Storm Paul will graze Baja California in Mexico today, helping it to weaken further in the coming hours.

As the center of the storm meanders along the coast, the storm will be thrust into conditions that will rip the storm apart. High up in the atmosphere, strong upper-level winds will create a disconnect between the top and bottom of the storm, weakening it.

Conditions at the surface have also added to weakening. By both moving northward and reaching land, Tropical Storm Paul has lost the warm tropical water that has fueled the system thus far.

Despite its weakening nature, this storm will still impact parts of western Mexico. Along with rain and thunderstorms, wind gusts up to 40 mph are expected along Baja coastal areas.

In the United States, impacts are expected to be less significant. In Southern California and Arizona, the only evidence of the storm will be increased clouds from the outer bands of the storm.

Tropical Storm Paul is expected to slowly move off to the northwest, parallel to the Baja Peninsula's west coast. As it moves, the storm will weaken and will likely dip below tropical storm status by this evening and become a post-tropical storm for Wednesday night and then finally dissipate on Thursday.

Paul strengthened to a hurricane early on Monday morning. The storm reached its peak strength of a Category 3 hurricane on Monday afternoon, becoming a major hurricane. But the system began to weaken just a few hours later, and continued to degrade through the present.