Atlantic Storm Speeds West, Ernesto Breaks Up Over Mexico

Ernesto, formerly a hurricane, weakened to a tropical depression as it dissipated over the mountains of southern Mexico today while the next Atlantic weather system sped westward toward the Caribbean.

Tropical Depression Seven was 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the Windward Islands and moving “rapidly” west with 35 miles per hour winds, the National Hurricane Center said in a 5 a.m. Atlantic time advisory. The system may become Tropical Storm Gordon if winds reach 39 mph, the Miami-based center said.