Tropical Storm Richard to aim toward Yucatan and Gulf of Mexico

After emerging in the Caribbean on Thursday morning, Tropical Storm Richard was forecast to intensify into a hurricane by Saturday and aim toward the Gulf of Mexico early next week.

At 11 a.m., Richard, the 17th named storm of the season, was about 220 miles south-southeast of Grand Cayman, plodding southeast at 6 mph with sustained winds of 40 mph.

Under the long-range forecast, the system would hit Mexico’s Yucatan as a Category 1 hurricane early on Monday and downgrade to tropical storm.

“Plodding along…” well, what do you expect? I’m 68 years old. I don’t run much any more.