Fifth storm of year prompts warnings across Caribbean Earl could make its way to the oil-rich Bay of Campeche Tropical Storm Earl, the fifth of 2016, may be near hurricane strength as it approaches Belize late Wednesday before it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula and enters the oil-rich Bay of Campeche Thursday. Earl, 450 miles (724 kilometers) east of Belize City, had top winds of 50 miles per hour and was moving west at 16 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 5 p.m. New York time. Those winds could peak at 70 mph. “Earl could be near hurricane strength as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize,” Lixion Avila, a senior hurricane specialist at the Miami-based center, wrote in an analysis. After it crosses the Yucatan, “Earl will likely move over the southern portion of the Bay of Campeche where it could reintensify.” State-owned Petroleos […]