Tropical Storm Julia moving west in southern Caribbean. Here’s where it’s headed

Tropical Storm Julia formed Friday over the southern Caribbean, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.

The storm formed Friday morning approaching the southern Caribbean, a path generally similar to the initial formation of Hurricane Ian.

But while Ian turned north toward the Gulf and then headed toward Florida’s Gulf coast, Julia poses a threat to areas of South and Central America.

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A hurricane warning was in place Friday for several islands near Colombia, and a hurricane watch was issued for Nicaragua from Bluefields to the Nicaragua/Honduras border. A tropical storm watch was in place in Honduras from the Nicaragua/Honduras border westward to Punta Patuca.

Julia is moving west near 18 mph, the hurricane center said in its 2 p.m. update. Additional strengthening is forecast, and the storm is expected to become a hurricane Saturday evening before it reaches San Andres and Providencia Islands and the coast of Nicaragua on Sunday morning, forecasters said.

As of 2 p.m., Julia was located about 150 miles north-northeast of Barranquilla, Colombia. It has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from Julia’s center.

The next named storm to form would be Karl.