The 2020 hurricane season continues its relentless onslaught, with the 28th season of the season named Tropical Storm Eta, Lashes out at Central America With torrential rain and whiplash. Usually Central America is a cemetery for hurricanes – but not Etta. Forecasters are worried that Eta will cross the hot Caribbean waters and head back to Florida this weekend.
Right now, Etta is gradually weakening on land, but it is expected to move to the Caribbean city on Friday and move northeast. With some moderate restorations this weekend in the waters of the Caribbean and Florida north of Cuba, the samples show a resurgence. There will be at least two landslides along this route: Cuba on Sunday and South Florida on Monday.
If the Etta landslide hits the U.S. coast, it will break the record for most named hurricanes to cause a U.S. landslide at 12 in a season. If it regains hurricane strength, it will break the record for landslide U.S. hurricanes.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the tropical storm Eta is inland near the Honduras-Nicaraguan border, continuing to move deeper west into Central America. The system is predicted to be further weakened by the tropical recession, but will continue to rain and flood.
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 winds, high-level wind cuts, contact with Cuba’s terrain and less time.
On Saturday the system will cross Cuba and 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. Most likely 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 very quick 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.
