According to meteorologists, Tropical Storm Lisa was becoming stronger and more organized in the western Caribbean on Tuesday.
The storm, which is the 12th named system of the 2022 season, is expected to strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall in Central America on Wednesday.
Hurricane warnings issued as Tropical Storm Lisa
(Photo : John Middelkoop/Unsplash)
The Belizean government has issued a hurricane warning for the entire country's coast.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Honduras' Bay Islands, as well as the Honduran coast from Puerto Barrios to the south of Chetumal, according to AccuWeather.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Guatemala and Honduras' north coasts.
At 8:00 p.m. Lisa was about 175 miles (280 kilometers) east of the Honduran island of Roatan and 285 miles (460 kilometers) east of Belize City at 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday.
Lisa's maximum sustained winds were hovering around 65 mph (95 km/h) in the late afternoon, up from 45 mph earlier in the morning.
The system was moving westward at 15 miles per hour (24 kilometers per hour).
Tropical storm force winds extended 70 miles (110 kilometers) from Lisa's center.
Since the middle of October, forecasters have predicted that a tropical storm could form in the region near the end of the month or in early November.
As the system began to steadily organize on Sunday, AccuWeather meteorologists began to refer to the developing storm as a tropical rainstorm to assist people in the storm's projected path in beginning preparations.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) designated the system as Potential Tropical Cyclone 15 early Sunday evening.
On Tuesday, satellite images showed thunderstorms more centrally located around the center of the tropical storm, rather than off to the side, as was the case on Monday.
These developments, according to forecasters, could be a key indicator that Lisa is about to gain strength.
According to the National Hurricane Center, multiple NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft will be used to investigate the storm through the middle of the week.
AccuWeather meteorologists' most recent forecast track indicated that landfall in Belize is most likely on Wednesday night.
However, as the storm approaches the coast, winds and seas will increase, and rainfall will increase on Wednesday.
If the system takes a more westerly path rather than tracking just north or west for a time into Tuesday night, it could arrive in Honduras sooner.
In this case, the storm's development window could be cut by 12 to 18 hours, reducing the storm's chances of becoming a hurricane.
Also Read: Eastern Pacific Hurricane: Tropical Storm Kay Expected to Hit Mexico, Southwest US This Week
Tropical Storm Lisa Is Expected to Become a Hurricane
Forecasters predicted that Tropical Storm Lisa would pass near or over Honduras' Bay Islands before strengthening to hurricane strength over the northwestern Caribbean Sea early Wednesday, as per The New York Times.
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the storm's center was expected to pass near Belize late Wednesday and over southeastern Mexico on Thursday.
On Tuesday, a hurricane warning was issued for the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras, as well as the area north of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, to the south of Chetumal, Mexico.
There was also one in effect for the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, stretching from Chetumal to Puerto Costa Maya.
On Wednesday afternoon, hurricane conditions were expected in those locations as well as along Belize's coast.
A tropical storm warning was also in effect for the entire north coast of Honduras and Guatemala, and then northward from Chetumal to Punta Allen in Mexico.
As of 11 p.m. The storm had sustained winds of 70 miles per hour on Tuesday and was about 130 miles east-northeast of Isla Roatán, an island north of mainland Honduras, moving west at 15 miles per hour, according to the hurricane center.
Tropical Storm Martin formed over the central North Atlantic, hundreds of miles east-northeast of Bermuda, as Tropical Storm Lisa moved west across the western Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Center.
There was no immediate danger of landing.
Lisa was expected to bring four to six inches of rain to Belize, Honduras' Bay Islands, northern Guatemala, and the southeast portion of Chiapas, Mexico.
Rainfall of two to four inches was predicted for the southeastern Yucatán Peninsula, northern Honduras, and central Guatemala, and one to two inches in parts of the Cayman Islands and eastern Nicaragua.
The Belizean government advised residents to prepare to relocate to shelters if necessary, and it directed public offices to send employees home, citing the storm's potential landfall within 48 hours.
On Tuesday, the National Emergency Management Organization announced that schools would be closed and shelters would open.
Shelly Hyde, the manager of Julia's Guesthouse and Cabanas, was supervising workers cutting plywood to board up windows on the beach in Placencia, Belize.
Cabanas were being transported inland. Workers trimmed trees and cleared debris in response to wind warnings, she said, to reduce the risk of flying objects.
As a precaution, at least 12 guests in the eight-room hotel were instructed to relocate to the nearest shelter, she said.
Hyde's hotel is about 100 miles from areas in the south where she expects the storm to make direct landfall, but she said in an interview that she was not taking any chances.
According to authorities, the Honduran Caribbean coast is on red alert as the northern part of the country prepares for Lisa's landfall.
The storm's path is very similar to that of Hurricane Fifi, which killed over 8,000 people and caused $1.8 billion in damage in 1974.
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