Tropical Storm Don heads for Texas

At 1200 GMT, Don was 495 miles (795 kilometers) east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas, on the far US southeastern border with Mexico, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported.

On its current path Don is forecast to make landfall south of Corpus Christi, Texas late Friday or early Saturday.

Don, the fourth named storm of the June 1-November 20 Atlantic hurricane season, and has maximum sustained winds of 40 miles (65 kilometers) per hour and was moving west-northwest at 10 miles (17 kilometers) per hour.

The Tropical Storm watch for the Texas coast "has been extended southward to the mouth of the Rio Grande," the river that marks the border between the United States and Mexico, the NHC said.

The Tropical Storm watch covers more than half of the Texas coastline but excludes the oil centers of Galveston and Houston.

"This general motion with an increase in forward speed is expected through Friday," the NHC said.

The NHC described Don as "a small tropical cyclone," with Tropical Storm force winds extending outwards up to 45 miles (75 kilometers) from the center.

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