There’s a new tropical storm in the Atlantic, and it could become a major hurricane in a few days.
The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Iota had formed on Friday afternoon and is on track to make landfall in Central America by early next week as a hurricane, possibly a powerful one.
Forecasters burned through 2020′s list of storm names in September and have been using the Greek alphabet ever since to name storms. There’s been Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta and Theta.
There have now been 30 named storms this year, which has broken the record for named storms set in 2005.
As of 3 p.m. CST Friday, Tropical Storm Iota was located about 355 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and was moving west-southwest at 3 mph.
Iota had winds of 40 mph, making it a minimal tropical storm.
The hurricane center said “steady to rapid strengthening is likely over the weekend,” and it is forecast to be a major hurricane when it approaches Central America. The hurricane center said hurricane watches may be needed for parts of Central America by tonight.
Iota is on a path westward toward Nicaragua and Honduras, which got hit hard by Hurricane Eta last week. Eta made landfall in Nicaragua on Nov. 3 in Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds.
Iota is expected to approach the coast of Central America by late Sunday or early Monday.
As of Friday afternoon it doesn’t appear that the storm will threaten the U.S. but instead menace Central America. Iota could produce 20 to 30 inches of rain in northern Nicaragua and Honduras, which suffered through widespread flooding from Eta last week.
With Eta now a post-tropical storm and out of the way the National Hurricane Center is turning its attention to Tropical Storm Iota in the Caribbean and Theta in the eastern Atlantic.
Eta, by the way, was ruled a post-tropical storm off the coast of North Carolina this morning after making its fourth landfall in west Florida on Thursday with 50 mph winds. (Eta had two other landfalls -- in Cuba and the Florida Keys -- as a tropical storm.)
The hurricane center said it was done with issuing advisories on Eta, which it had been tracking since Oct. 31.
Also still out there is Tropical Storm Theta in the eastern Atlantic.
As of 3 p.m. CST Friday Theta was located about 490 miles south-southeast of the Azores and was moving eastward at 10 mph.
Theta had winds of 60 mph and isn’t expected to threaten land.
Theta is forecast remain steady in strength today but could begin to weaken over the weekend.
The Atlantic hurricane season isn’t over but is nearing the end, which is on Nov. 30.
Thanks for reading Tropical Storm Iota born in Caribbean; could become a major hurricane in a few days - AL.com. Please share...!
0 Comment for "Tropical Storm Iota born in Caribbean; could become a major hurricane in a few days - AL.com"