Tropical Storm Julia formed Friday in the Caribbean and could possibly become the season's next hurricane, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Hurricane and tropical storm warnings and watches were in effect for portions of Nicaragua. A hurricane warning was also posted for a portion of Colombia.
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. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for areas of Nicaragua and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Honduras from the Nicaragua/Honduras border to Punta Patuca.
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 70 mph Saturday afternoon. The system was forecast to become a hurricane before it reaches the coast of Nicaragua over the weekend, 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.
The system was expected to stay well south of Florida.
