Tropical Storm Julia became a category 1 hurricane Saturday night as the center of the hurricane tracked toward San Andres Island off the coast of Nicaragua, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Flooding and landslides are forecast over Central America and southern Mexico into next week, the 8 p.m. advisory said.
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for portions of Colombia and Nicaragua. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Nicaragua north of Puerto Cabezas to the Honduras/Nicaragua border.
The government of El Salvador has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the entire coast of El Salvador.
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Winds from the system were at 75 mph Saturday evening, the NHC said.
On the forecast track, the center of Julia is expected to pass near or over San Andres and Providencia Islands this evening and then reach the coast of Nicaragua on Sunday morning.
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The storm is expected to become a heavy rainmaker for the northern coast of Colombia with isolated areas getting as much as 15 inches of rainfall.
This rainfall may cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides in Central America through this weekend. Flash flooding is possible across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico early next week.
