QCOSTARICA – Julia has made landfall as Category 1 hurricane along the coast near Laguna De Perlas in Nicaragua, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Sunday.
The hurricane is located about 50 km north-northeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua, with maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h).
Life-threatening impacts were expected in the neighboring country, with flooding rain expected to fall, even in locations well away from the coast.
Dubbed a tropical rainstorm on Tuesday was upgraded by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to Tropical Depression 13 on Thursday night. At midday on Friday, the NHC said the depression had strengthened into the 10th tropical storm of the 2022 season. On Saturday evening, the NHC upgraded the storm to hurricane status, making Julia the 5th hurricane of the season.
As of 1:15 am (CST) Sunday, the time of landfall in Nicaragua, Julia was moving toward the west at 26 km/h with maximum sustained winds of 137 km/h, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
315 AM EDT — Satellite & Nicaraguan radar data indicate that the center of #Julia has made landfall in Nicaragua along the coast near Laguna de Perlas at 0315 AM EDT (0715 UTC).
Maximum sustained winds at landfall were estimated to be 85 mph.
Latest: https://t.co/W5ulCzsPiS pic.twitter.com/UVdTXUMfdR
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 9, 2022
Julia is expected to continue tracking westward over Nicaragua on Sunday, losing wind intensity and falling back to tropical storm status in the process. However, heavy rainfall will remain just as great of a threat farther inland.
What is expected in Costa Rica
Julia is expected to impact Costa Rica, in particular the southern zone, with rainy conditions and heavy downpours.
The forecast by the national weather service, the Instituto Metereologico Nacional (IMN) for this Sunday, October 9: “The country will continue to be indirectly affected by Julia, as a result of which there will be a morning of dense cloudiness and possible rainfall in most of the Pacific. In the afternoon there will be rainy conditions in the Pacific, Central Valley, and Caribbean mountains. Cool temperatures are expected across most of the country.”
Read more: Feared that a tropical wave will become a hurricane Sunday morning
The Comision Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) declared an orange alert for the South Pacific and a yellow alert for the rest of Costa Rica.
