Hurricane Julia has run ashore in Nicaragua and is continuing its move westward toward the Pacific Ocean, dumping up to a dozen inches of rain on Central America in the process.
Julia’s eyewall came ashore around 2:15 a.m. CDT Sunday with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane.
Some computer models were forecasting that the storm would head north into the Bay of Campeche, potentially threatening the Texas coast if it re-formed. But all models now say the storm will head out into the Pacific without entering U.S. waters.
Julia took a curious path, beginning as a tropical rainstorm, as it hugged the coast of South America. It seems likely this interplay with land prevented it from becoming a more powerful tropical system.
AccuWeather meteorologists said Sunday they are confident Julia will continue tracking westward over Nicaragua, losing wind intensity and falling back to tropical storm status in the process.
They do think, however, Julia is likely to survive the trip westward across Nicaragua and cross into the Pacific to become the 18th named storm of the season in that ocean.
In the Atlantic basin, no tropical disturbances are forecast for the next five days.
Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.
