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Issued: 0830hrs Monday 18th July 2005
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

Emily hits the Yucatan

Hurricane Emily has been developing over the past ten days and today made landfall, crossing the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Winds speeds of up to 180mph have been reported in gusts.

Emily is expected to be briefly weakening as she crosses land, losing the energy from the warm seas that she needs to sustain her.

However, once she passes back into the gulf of Mexico she is expected to rapidly regain her strength.

As she approaches landfall at 2am BST on Wednesday morning, wind speeds could be back to 150mph. Her current target is Mexico, south of Brownsville, Texas.

I'll keep you up-to-date with Emilies movements over the coming days.
Simon