Hurricane Julia made landfall in Nicaragua early Sunday morning as a Category 1 storm with winds of 85 mph.
Julia strengthened right into a hurricane on Saturday just hours before its landfall near Laguna de Perlas, and the storm poses a major flood threat to Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where torrential rain could trigger mudslides.
The season‘s fifth hurricane isn’t expected to threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast since the system will likely be ripped apart by the rugged terrain of Central America because it continues to maneuver inland through the week.
The Atlantic hurricane season has just below two months remaining, so it’s commonplace for the tropics to stay lively in October. The month ranks because the third-most lively (behind September and August) for tropical activity within the Atlantic Basin, typically producing about two named storms every year, one in every of which becomes a hurricane.
Where is Hurricane Julia?
Hurricane Julia is centered about 60 miles to the west-northwest of Bluefields, Nicaragua, and had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
The hurricane is moving westward at 16 mph
What’s the forecast for Hurricane Julia?
Hurricane Julia is predicted to proceed to maneuver west through Sunday night, after which the storm is predicted to show to the west-northwest on Monday.
On that track, Julia is predicted to maneuver across Nicaragua and emerge over the eastern Pacific on Sunday night.
Julia is then expected to maneuver near or along the Pacific coasts of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala on Monday and Monday night.
“You’ll notice that the cone is fairly skinny, and that’s showing less uncertainty to the forecast as compared to what we saw with Hurricane Ian,” FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwin said. “The dynamics within the atmosphere are just about locked in stone, and so we’re not going to see an enormous variability with the forecast itself.”
Where are watches and warnings in effect?
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Nicaragua from Bluefields to Puerto Cabezas.
A Hurricane Warning means hurricane-force winds (74-plus mph) are expected somewhere within the warning area. A warning is usually issued 36 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds (39-plus mph), which make outside preparations difficult or dangerous. Preparations to guard life and property ought to be rushed to completion.
Tropical Storm Warnings have been issued for Nicaragua south of Bluefields to the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border and north of Puerto Cabezas to the Honduras-Nicaragua border.
A Tropical Storm Warning can also be in effect for the Pacific coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras, and the coast of El Salvador.
A Tropical Storm Warning implies that sustained winds of at the least 39 mph are expected within the warning area.
What are the impacts of Hurricane Julia?
Hurricane-force winds (74-plus mph) and tropical-storm-force winds (39-plus mph) aren’t the one threats Julia poses.
Between 6 and 12 inches of rain is probably going on the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Isla de Providencia, with 5 to 10 inches expected across portions of mainland Central America. Isolated amounts as high as 15 inches are possible, particularly in Central America.
On Colombia’s Guajira Peninsula, between 3 and 6 inches of rain is predicted, with localized totals of as much as 10 inches possible.
The FOX Forecast Center said this rainfall could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides through the workweek.
Will Hurricane Julia threaten the US?
A blocking high-pressure system is forecast to stay in place north of Hurricane Julia because it tracks across the Caribbean.
Subsequently, the FOX Forecast Center believes Julia will keep heading west across the southwestern Caribbean Sea reasonably than turn north toward the U.S., sending it on a path through Central America through the remainder of the weekend and into early next week.
“Hurricane Bonnie, when you’ll remember, had its characteristics, went over land and continued on,” FOX Weather meteorologist Craig Herrera said. “Because it continued back over the Pacific, it held those lower-level characteristics, so it maintained its name, Bonnie. We could see this potentially occur again. It can be very interesting to observe.
The pc forecast model tracks for Julia are shown on the map below.