Hurricane Julia still going after making landfall
Julia weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday morning, hours after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds in Nicaragua.
The National Hurricane Center said Julia made landfall around 2:15 a.m. CDT Sunday near Laguna de Perlas on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast.
The hurricane center said Julia, the fifth hurricane of 2022 in the Atlantic, could track all the way across Nicaragua and into the eastern Pacific without losing its name.
If that were to happen it would be the second Atlantic storm to do that just this year. Hurricane Bonnie took a similar track, making landfall on July 1 on the Nicaragua-Honduras border as a tropical storm. Bonnie later emerged into the eastern Pacific and strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane south of Mexico.
Julia had 70 mph winds as of Sunday morning as it tracked westward across Nicaragua. The hurricane center said life-threatening flash floods and mudslides will be possible in Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday.
As of 10 a.m. CDT Sunday, the center of Tropical Storm Julia was located about 65 miles east-northeast of Managua, Nicaragua, and was moving west at 15 mph.
The hurricane center said on the current track Julia could make it into the eastern Pacific by tonight.
Forecasters said Julia will still be a tropical storm when it moves into the eastern Pacific. However, unlike Bonnie, Julia is expected to weaken to a tropical depression by Monday night and dissipate by Tuesday.
Flash flooding is a big concern with Julia. The hurricane center said 5 to 10 inches of rain, with isolated amounts of 15 inches will be possible in parts of Nicaragua and El Salvador. Honduras, Belize, northern Guatemala and parts of Mexico could get 3 to 6 inches with isolated amounts of 10 inches.
Tropical storm conditions will continue along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua within the tropical storm warning areas through this morning. Tropical storm conditions are possible along the coast of Honduras within the watch area through this morning.
Here are the watches and warnings for Julia as of Sunday:
* A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Pacific coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras and the entire coast of El Salvador.
* A tropical storm watch is in effect for the Pacific coast of Guatemala.
The hurricane center said tropical storm conditions are expected along the Pacific coasts of Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador within the warning area from this afternoon into tonight. Tropical storm conditions will be possible along the Pacific coast of Guatemala within the watch area on Monday.
Julia is the only Atlantic storm being tracked on Sunday. The rest of the basin was quiet, with no new storms expected to form for at least the next five days.
The Atlantic hurricane season ends on Nov. 30.