Hurricane Nana expected to strike south of Yucatan Peninsula

NOAA

The 14 named storm of the season, Nana formed in the Caribbean, the National Hurricane Center reported Tuesday afternoon. The tropical storm is expected to grow into a hurricane by Thursday, but its trajectory has veered south.

While an earlier forecast suggested it could hit the Peninsula, Nana is now expected to hit Central America hardest, bringing just rain and thunderstorms to Yucatan.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nana was 110 miles south of Jamaica and 650 miles east of Belize City. The storm is moving west toward Belize at 18 mph.

Nana will move north of the coast of Honduras on Wednesday and likely approach the Belize coast as a hurricane Thursday, the NHC said.

By the weekend it will greatly diminish in strength and should become a post-tropical remnant low.

Heavy rainfall will return in the coming days to the Peninsula, said local meteorologist Juan Antonio Palma. Another tropical wave may hit the Yucatan Peninsula by Saturday, prolonging the potential for rainfall.

This year’s hurricane season has already been an active one. The most recent storms include Hurricane Marco, which grew to Category 1 strength, and Hurricane Laura, which strengthened to a Category 4 storm. Both eventually made landfall in Louisiana last week with Laura causing the most damage and claiming 16 lives.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, with the statistical peak of activity coming Sept. 10.

The next named storms will be Omar, Paulette and Rene.

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