Tropical Storm Julia formed Friday near the coast of Colombia and could rapidly strengthen into a hurricane over the Caribbean Sea prior to slamming the coast of Nicaragua with life-threatening impacts this weekend.
🌀 Hurricane watches and warnings are in effect for parts of Nicaragua and the offshore islands of Colombia.
This includes a hurricane warning that extends from Nicaragua’s northeastern coastal city of Puerto Cabezas that extends southward to Pearl Lagoon, as well as one in effect for Colombia’s San AndrĂ©s, Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands.
➡️ Julia is forecast to pass near or over Colombia’s San Andres and Providencia islands Saturday night on its way to landfall in Nicaragua on Sunday morning.
A greater threat than Julia’s winds are rains of 5 to 10 inches, up to 15 inches in isolated areas, that the storm is expected to dump across Central America.
This rainfall may cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides through this weekend.
The storm’s remnants are forecast to sweep across Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and southern Mexico, a region already saturated by weeks of heavy rains.
📸 Graphics provided by Weathernerds, NOAA and sfwmd.gov
