Tropical Storm Bonnie forms, no threat to South Florida

Tropical Storm Bonnie formed Friday morning in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Nicaragua, forecasters said, and it’s making its way west, where the storm is expected to bring up to 12 inches of rain to parts of Central America before crossing over into the east Pacific.

Bonnie is the second named storm of what experts have predicted will be an exceptionally busy hurricane season with 20 named storms, 10 hurricanes and five major hurricanes in the forecast.

As of 11 a.m. Friday, Bonnie is located about 195 miles east-southeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph moving west at 20 mph, according to the NHC. The system’s tropical storm-force winds stretch 80 miles from its center.

Prior to developing, Tropical Storm Bonnie slowed down Friday morning, which was important for its development as hurricane specialists believe it was moving too fast to close its circulation and become the next tropical storm.

“On the forecast track,” the NHC said, “the system will move across the southwestern Caribbean Sea today, cross southern Nicaragua or northern Costa Rica tonight, and emerge over the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday. The system will then move offshore of, but parallel to the coasts of El Salvador, Guatemala, and southern Mexico Saturday through Monday.”

The NHC said heavy rainfall is possible across Costa Rica on Friday.

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A tropical storm warning has been issued for a portion of Nicaragua’s and Costa Rica’s Pacific coasts.

“The environment for the system looks conducive for strengthening up to landfall,” the NHC said.

Once inland, the system’s wind speeds are expected to reach 65 mph and is expected to weaken over land then re-strengthen out over the Pacific Ocean, the hurricane center said.

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Meteorologists are also keeping their eyes on two other disturbances, one of which has made landfall in South Texas, where it’s expected to drop rain on the region.

Meanwhile, a second system headed in the general direction of the eastern Caribbean and South Florida is fizzling. It is expected to move west-northwest for the next few days, reaching the eastern Caribbean by the weekend.

Further development, however, is unlikely, according to the National Hurricane Center, due to factors such as the presence of storm-shredding wind shear. No rain impact is expected in South Florida from that system over the long July 4th holiday weekend.

A few strong thunderstorms are possible locally through Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Isolated scattered showers are in the forecast, as is typical for South Florida summers.

Two systems are churning in the Atlantic right now, but both could be gone in a matter of days. One system, Tropical Storm Bonnie, is expected to make landfall in Central America and cross into the east Pacific, and the other, the one headed in Florida’s direction, is expected to hit wind shear and dissipate in a few days. (National Hurricane Center)

The next named storm to form after Bonnie would be called Colin.

Tropical Storm Bonnie, the second named storm of hurricane season, formed Friday morning. It’s expected to crash into the Central American coast near Nicaragua and Costa Rica on Friday, and then emerge into the Pacific Ocean.

Hurricane season runs June 1 through Nov. 30.