MOSTLY SUNNY DAYS AHEAD; TROPICAL STORM ETA INLAND OVER NICARAGUA… Sunshine remains the story on this Wednesday. High temperatures will peak in the mid-70s this afternoon, which will be a bit warmer than the last few days. We continue to monitor Eta, now a tropical storm located inland this morning over the northern part of Nicaragua just west of the Caribbean Sea. Eta is expected to continue to weaken as the storm moves west, but not before delivering an extreme amount of rainfall to parts of Nicaragua and Honduras. Locally, we have a slew of nice days ahead with very little to no rain chances in many spots across the region. Let’s talk about what we know on this Wednesday.
TROPICAL STORM ETA OVER CENTRAL AMERICA TODAY… Eta remains a dangerous tropical storm over parts of Nicaragua and Honduras this morning. The storm continues to lash parts of Central America with high winds and heavy rain that could lead to flash flooding and mudslides. There will be an ongoing significant risk of flash flooding and mudslides in parts of Central America in the days ahead due to Eta. Eta will continue to move west through tomorrow at a slow pace. This will unfortunately make the ongoing flash flood and mudslide threat even worse than if the system were moving quicker. Eta will likely weaken to a tropical depression and perhaps even become a post-tropical cyclone (remnant low) on Thursday or Friday. The storm will then turn quickly to the east and emerge over the warm waters of the northwestern Caribbean Sea. The official forecast from the National Hurricane Center indicates re-strengthening to a tropical storm by Sunday.
FORECAST FOR ETA REMAINS UNCLEAR; GULF IMPACTS APPEAR MORE LIKELY… This is, unfortunately, going to be a “messy forecast” with very little confidence until we get to the weekend when Eta will likely reemerge into the Caribbean Sea. Unfortunately, model confidence has increased somewhat that Eta will ultimately move into the eastern Gulf of Mexico perhaps in 6-7 days. While it remains too early to know exactly where Eta will end up, this underscores the need to keep close tabs on the storm in the days ahead. We will bring you the latest in the RedZone Weather app.
FEW SHOWERS POSSIBLE THIS WEEKEND… Our next real chance of rain happens on Saturday when we could have a few showers around. I am not expecting an “all day washout” but there could be a few showers around. High temperatures will be increasingly warmer this weekend into early next week. Highs will be near 80 by Sunday into Monday with morning lows again in the 60s.
APP… If you haven’t already, be sure to download the free RedZone Weather app to keep up with all the latest information on the world of weather in south Alabama and northwest Florida. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Once you have the app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
See all the details in your Wednesday #rzw forecast video. Enjoy the day!
