01:58 Beta's Main Threats: Heavy Rain, Coastal Flooding Tropical Storm Beta is tracking through the northwest Gulf of Mexico and poses threats of flooding rainfall, storm surge and gusty winds to parts of Texas and Louisiana early this week.

Hurricane Maria continues to intensify and now packs maximum sustained winds of 175 mph in its eyewall as it approaches St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/staticmaps/MAX_WEB_TROP_ATL15_storm_info_1280x720.jpg" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/staticmaps/MAX_WEB_TROP_ATL15_storm_info_1280x720.jpg 400w, https://s.w-x.co/staticmaps/MAX_WEB_TROP_ATL15_storm_info_1280x720.jpg 800w" > Current Storm Status (The highest cloud tops, corresponding to the most vigorous convection, are shown in the brightest red colors. Clustering, deep convection around the center is a sign of a healthy tropical cyclone.) (The highest cloud tops, corresponding to the most vigorous convection, are shown in the brightest red colors. Clustering, deep convection around the center is a sign of a healthy tropical cyclone.)

Maria also has a minimum central pressure of 909 mb, a lower pressure than Irma had at any time. This is the lowest pressure for any Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Dean's 905-mb minimum central pressure in August 2007.

Hurricane Maria will move across the Virgin Islands Tuesday night and Puerto Rico on Wednesday as an extremely dangerous Category 4 or 5 hurricane.

For the latest on this potentially catastrophic strike, click here for the latest forecast on Maria.