Tropical storm conditions are expected to reach the coast of Honduras by late Tuesday night and to hit parts of Mexico and Belize by Wednesday night or early Thursday, forecasters said.
Advertisement
“Regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds, perhaps tropical storm-force, will continue over portions of Jamaica this morning and reach the Cayman Islands later today”, forecasters wrote.
The Cayman Islands Joint Marine Unit also issued a warning Monday, saying boaters should stay off the water while the system passes through the area.
A hurricane warning is in effect from Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico, southward to the border between Belize and Guatemala.
Earl will travel south of the Cayman Islands, enhancing winds and increasing seas.
“These rains could result in life-threatening flash floods and mud slides”, the NHC says in a statement.
On Sunday, a tropical system that has evolved into tropical storm Earl killed six people and injured 12 in the Dominican Republic. A resultant fire killed six people riding a bus on their way home from the beach.
This is the seventh time the name Earl has been used for an Atlantic storm. The average day of the fifth named storm is 31 August, he said. The National Hurricane Center blamed a mechanical problem for the canceled mission.
“There are very strict criteria for a tropical storm and this did not meet that criteria until this morning”, Feltgen said.
Advertisement
“We are going to be in for a rough two to three days”, local government minister Desmond McKenzie told the Jamaica Gleaner. One identifying characteristic is closed circulation, meaning a rotating area of low pressure, according to Feltgen. The plane found winds in excess of 50 miles per hour along with a center of circulation, the latter of which was the unknown and reason why it was not named a storm Monday.
