(CNN) -- Tropical Storm Erin was christened Wednesday morning in the Gulf of Mexico. It could make landfall Thursday near Corpus Christi, Texas, forecasters said Wednesday.
A NOAA satellite image shows the beginnings of Tropical Storm Erin at 7:45 a.m. ET Wednesday.
At 10 a.m. CDT, (11 a.m. ET), reconnaissance aircraft with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration detected winds greater than 40 mph, raising the system's status from a tropical depression to a tropical storm.
At 10:30 a.m., the storm was about 250 miles east of Brownsville, Texas, and about 295 miles east-northeast of La Pesca, Mexico, with sustained winds of 30 mph.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dean intensified as it moved toward the Leeward Islands in the Atlantic and was expected to become a hurricane by the time it reached them Friday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Forecasters watching the Gulf of Mexico issued a tropical storm warning, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected within 24 hours, for the Texas coast from Freeport southward. Freeport is about 35 miles west of Galveston. A tropical storm watch remains in effect for the northeastern Mexican coast from Rio San Fernando northward. Watch how three storms are progressing »
Tropical Storm Erin was picking up speed, moving west-northwest at 12 mph. The center of the storm was expected to reach the central coast of Texas by Thursday. Tropical storm-strength winds extend 70 miles from the center, NOAA reported.
The storm may dump up to 5 inches of rain along the middle Texas coast, with isolated amounts of up to 8 inches, forecasters said.
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Tropical Storm Dean, now spinning about 1,170 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, is expected to become the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2007 season by Friday as it nears the Antilles and Puerto Rico.
Dean is expected to reach Hispaniola as a Category 3 hurricane by 8 p.m. Sunday. Category 3 hurricanes have winds from 111 to 130 mph.
No hurricane has made landfall in the mainland United States since Wilma struck Florida in late October 2005.
Hawaii dodged a bullet in the form of a hurricane overnight as Flossie weakened to a tropical storm Wednesday and left the area after buffeting the state's Big Island with strong winds and heavy rains.
As of 2 a.m. in Hawaii (8 a.m. ET), Flossie -- having weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm -- had maximum sustained winds of about 60 mph and was located about 290 miles south of Honolulu. It was moving westward at about 10 mph, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu.
The storm is expected to weaken further over the next 24 hours.
CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf, reporting from Hawaii, said Wednesday the winds there had died down considerably in the past few hours and rainfall was only sporadic.
A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Hawaii, but conditions will continue to improve throughout the day, Wolf said
