QCOSTARICA – Tropical wave #41, which is directly approaching Central America, will become a hurricane on Sunday morning, according to estimates from the National Hurricane Center Miami.
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, authorities reported that a yellow alert had been declared for the North Zone and the South Pacific.
Eladio Solano, from the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), explained that on Saturday it would be a tropical storm and by Sunday it would be very close to Nicaragua, but as a category 1 or 2 hurricane, although he reiterated that this is a forecast made with today’s information.
“Currently, the system is north of Venezuela, about 1,700 kilometers from Costa Rica,” said Solano, who added that the phenomenon has been very close to the coast of South America and that weakens it, but once it enters the Caribbean it could retrieve it.
The effects on the country would be indirect, which implies that the South Pacific would have persistent rains. The yellow alert also includes the North Zone. The rest of the territory has a green alert, although the authorities of the National Emergency Commission (CNE) reiterate to the population that they must be attentive to any changes that are communicated in the next few hours.
Why alert in the Pacific?
A recurring question is why, if the phenomenon is in the Caribbean, the effects in Costa Rica will be felt on the Pacific coast.
The answer is simple. The system attracts cloudiness from all points, as if it were a sink, and this causes these clouds to accumulate on the Pacific coast since the mountainous area stops them at that point.
Thus, the clouds cause heavy rains in the same place for hours, generally causing floods.
