CANCUN Mexico (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Alex was close to making landfall in Belize on Saturday as it dumped rain on Guatemala and the Yucatan peninsula, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The storm was not an imminent threat to oil-siphoning efforts at BP Plc's blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Current forecasts project Alex will emerge in the southern Gulf of Mexico on Sunday and make landfall again as a minimal hurricane later in the week between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano, Mexico, sparing BP spill collection efforts.