Potential tropical cyclone Two is already in the southwestern Caribbean Sea and is expected to its winds strengthen on its way to Nicaragua and Costa Rica until it became tropical storm Bonnie, the second formed so far this year in the Atlantic basin. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane and tropical storm watch on Wednesday for areas of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, respectively.
In a bulletin issued at 06:00 am (Nicaragua time), the NHC indicated that the system, which began its trajectory in the southern part of the Windward Islands and continued through the Caribbean near the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, It is located about 710 miles —1,140 kilometers— from Bluefields, in the Nicaraguan South Caribbean.
Two has maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 km/h) and is moving 20 miles per hour (31 km/h) in a westerly direction.
According to the forecast track, this Thursday it will move through the southwestern Caribbean Sea, and will cross southern Nicaragua or northern Costa Rica on Friday night and emerge over the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday and may strengthen until it reaches be a hurricane over its waters.
Once the alerts related to the Caribbean coasts of Venezuela and Colombia have been suspended, a hurricane watch remains in effect for an area that goes from the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica to the Pearl Lagoon, in the first of those two countries, and a tropical storm warning for the Colombian island of San Andrés.
Pass through Central America
Under tropical storm watch are from Limón (Costa Rica) north to the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica and from north of Laguna de Perlas to Sandy Bay Sirpi, in Nicaragua.
Maximum winds will strengthen between now and Friday as the system approaches Central America.
Weakening is expected as the system crosses Central America, but strengthening is expected on Saturday once it moves over the Pacific Ocean.
The probability of formation of a cyclone is 90%, both for the 48-hour forecast and the five-day forecast. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 80 miles (130 km).
The passage of the phenomenon is going to make itself felt in the north of Colombia and more intensely in Nicaragua and Costa Rica with rains, which could give rise to flash floods, winds and storm surge.
The authorities of the institutions that make up the National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Attention (Sinapred) have reported, through Nicaraguan government media, that they have more than 300 shelter centers ready, in case it is necessary to carry out evacuations.
Army suspends sails
The storm surge could raise sea levels by up to three feet (0.9 meters) above normal tide levels along the immediate coast of Nicaragua near and north of where the center makes landfall.
The Nicaraguan Army, through the Naval Force, suspended this Wednesday the sailings in the 11 most important ports of the country, due to the threat posed by the atmospheric disturbance.
The Nicaraguan Armed Forces reported that “they will not issue departures to vessels destined for the open sea, fishing banks, coastal communities, islands or adjacent keys, until further notice.”
The sailings were suspended indefinitely for the ports of Bluefields, Corn Island, El Bluff and Puerto Cabezas, located on the Caribbean coast (east), as well as the maritime terminals Corinto, Potosí, Puerto Sandino and San Juan del Sur, in the Pacific (west-southwest), plus those found in the Great Lake of Nicaragua: Granada, Moyogalpa and San Carlos.
In addition, they recommended that the vessels that are fishing “take all security measures, and if necessary, move to a safe port, this in order to avoid events to be regretted.”
So far in the current hurricane season in the Atlantic, which began on June 1 and, according to the meteorological services, is going to be more active than normal, there has only been one named storm, Alex, which formed on June 5 near the Yucatan Peninsula with the remnants of Hurricane Agatha, the first formed this year in the Pacific area. Alex caused rains in the Yucatan and western Cuba and southern Florida.
