2 Hurricanes in 2 Weeks

Parts of Central America are set to get hit by a second destructive hurricane.  Imagine getting hit by not 1 but two category 4 systems in a matter of weeks. This is what will happen to Nicaragua and Honduras as early as Monday.

The satellite loop shows a very healthy hurricane on its way to becoming a major system shortly. You can clearly see a center spin, with plenty of feeder bands, and some high clouds rotating in the opposite direction as the storm. This is known as outflow. 

Imagine the center of the storm as an empty tube of paper towels. Hot moist air enters at the surface or bottom of the tube, feeds the storm, and then exits in the upper levels or the top of the tube. If the tube is not bent or impacted by strong winds, the feeding process goes off without a hitch. The air at the surface spins in a counterclockwise rotation but by the time it exits at the top, its spinning in the opposite direction. This is outflow and it means Iota is running on all cylinders and its not good news for our friends in Central America.

Where is it going?

It will move ashore over the same area Hurricane Eta did on November 3rd. It impacted  Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua with destructive category 4, 140 mph winds and flooding rains. Hurricane Iota will be an unwanted and unwelcomed repeat performance.

This is what is forecast:

Iota will approach Northeastern Nicaragua and Eastern Honduras possibly late Monday or very early Tuesday. NHC says it will be an extremely dangerous Cat 4 hurricane by then.

Rain Projections

• 8 - 16" with up to 30" in spots - Honduras, Northern Nicaragua, Guatemala, Southern Belize. This will lead to major flooding, land and mudslides, over an area that is just in its infancy of cleaning up after Eta. 
• 4 - 12" - Panama & Costa Rica  
• 3 - 10" - Southern Nicaragua and El Salvador  
• 1 - 3 with possible 12" is some areas of Northern Colombia.

Hoping for the best. We'll be watching.