The 2020 hurricane season continues its relentless onslaught, with season 28 named Hurricane Etta, Lashes out at Central America With torrential rain and whiplash. Usually Central America is a cemetery for hurricanes – but not Etta. Forecasters are concerned that Eta will reappear in warm Caribbean waters and then head to Florida this weekend.
According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, Eta was hit by a severe hurricane tropical depression once at 4 a.m. Thursday. But Etta is expected to head to the Caribbean on Friday and move northeast. Samples with some moderate restorations this weekend in the waters of the Caribbean and Florida north of Cuba show restoration. There are likely to be at least two landslides along this route: Cuba on Sunday and South Florida on Monday.
If the Etta landslide hit the U.S. coast, it would break the record for most named storms to cause a U.S. landslide at 12 in a season. If it regains hurricane strength, it will break the record of landslide U.S. hurricanes.
As of Thursday night, Etta was directly over Central Honduras and moved deeper westward into Central America. The system is predicted to continue to rain and cause flash flooding. The hurricane center said Thursday morning it would “disintegrate into a tank of low or low pressure.”
So far, Etta has been charged with at least four deaths.
Later this week, the Etta will begin to feel its upper-level steering influence in the north, causing the storm to turn sharply to the right, pushing over the warmer North Caribbean Sea. In the event of some intensification, at least initially it will be limited, as the Etta will have to deal with some dry air, high pressure, contact with the territory of Cuba and less time.
On Saturday the system will cross Cuba and may be a tropical storm, then heading south to Florida. It is not yet certain how strong Etta will be and to what extent the storm will affect South Florida. Often Eta will be a strong tropical storm or low-lying hurricane. Some models show direct success, while others show a blow on the Florida Keys.
Regardless of the right path, Eta will bring very wet weather across South Florida from Friday to early next week. Depending on the route, it is likely to rain more than a foot in some places.
After the storm passed over South Florida, most models show it sinking westward into the Gulf of Mexico early next week. The bay water is still hot for Etta to regain strength. While it is too early to know where and when another landslide could occur, some guidelines suggest that another Gulf Coast landslide is possible by the middle of next week.
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