Hurricane Eta Picks Up Steam To Our South

Overnight Hurricane Eta hit Nicaragua as a STRONG Cat 4 hurricane – after intensifying at record speeds.  It was a windy rainy night here (I’m talking 25mph gusts…nothing close to what is battering Nicaragua and Honduras.

It’s actually cool here – we have a northern wind and we are waking up to temps in the mid 70s!

Hold on tight…this thing has slowed considerably and it looks like we are going to get LOTS of rain.

November 2nd and we are still talking about hurricanes?  Yup….it’s that kinda storm season (especially if you live in the Yucatan or Louisiana) and it’s that kinda year.

What could make 2020 more memorable?  Let’s not even answer that.

We had a pretty beautiful October.  Warm, warm humid weather, clear water and some heavy rains at night.  The Rainy Season, the Low Season, the Hurricane Season, in general, is pretty great weather until…well…until it’s not.

With Hurricane Eta forming to our south – and becoming stronger by the hour – looks like we are in for “some weather” as they say in Belize.

Just now – Jeff and I went to take the dogs down to the beach.  Frannie was our scout and came running right back…RAIN!

“Gyal..you made of sugar?” – often shouted at me when I’m running from the rain in Belize.

Back to Hurricane Eta.  Last night, she wasn’t even a Tropical Storm – today, she is on her way to becoming a Category 3 hurricane…maybe hitting the coast of Nicaragua as a Category 4…with sustained winds of 140mph.

You can watch this clip from the Weather Channel where they call for 2-3 feet of rain in some parts of Central America.

This is going to be HARD on Nicaragua and Honduras.

Current situation.

She – he?  are Greek letters male or female?  Eta is then projected to weaken considerably and SLOW considerably in the mountains of Nicaragua and Honduras…(Honduras’ highest peak is 9420 feet – nothing to sneeze at) but bring LOTS of rain and some wind to Belize.

I use Windfinder-Ambergris Caye for the best prediction of weather conditions here on the island.

Basically, as predicted now – it is going to shimmy up our coast.  But keep in mind, as ALWAYS that the dotted area is the long-term potential track.  And the country of Belize is in that area of possibility.

SO this is one to watch.

Keep an eye on the National Hurricane Center, Wunderground and Tropical Tidbits for more information.

I’ve seen some mentioning of Hurricane Mitch – a HUGE late October Category 5 storm that followed a somewhat similar path in 1998 – a loop around Belize.  Never actually moving over the Belize borders but causing quite a bit of damage.  It also killed an estimated 11,000 people in Nicaragua and Honduras, primarily through landslides.

Here’s a graphic of Mitch’s path – you can click the link above if you are interested in more.