By AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct. 8, 2022 11:46 AM EDT | Updated Oct. 10, 2022 8:16 AM EDT
AccuWeather meteorologists warn that Julia's effects may extend farther than just Central America, perhaps to the eastern Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.
Tropical Storm Julia formed in the Caribbean Sea, near the coast of Columbia, on Friday and has since continued to track westward towards Central America. Julia then strengthened into a hurricane on Saturday evening in the southwestern Caribbean, before making landfall in Nicaragua less than 12 hours later.
As Julia moved through Nicaragua, the country and its bordering nations are likely to be pounded by dangerous rainfall and wind gusts. Julia lost wind intensity while over the rugged terrain of Nicaragua and was downgraded to a tropical storm late on Sunday morning.
No matter the wind intensity of Julia, the storm is likely to threaten the area with flooding rainfall across Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and southern Mexico for the next couple of days.
AccuWeather meteorologists have been monitoring the possibilities for Julia, once the center is inland, for days, keeping all the possibilities open. Now, forecasters believe Julia's landfall in central Nicaragua has sealed its fate.
On Sunday, Julia pushed westward across Nicaragua and the southern part of Honduras, where there are fewer mountains compared to areas farther to the north and to the south in Central America. As a result, the system remained a tropical storm and retained the name Julia near the coast of El Salvador on Monday morning.
The above satellite view shows Julia on Sunday morning, holding on as a threatening hurricane in Nicaragua (AccuWeather Enhanced RealVue™ Satellite).
This already happened once this tropical season, with Tropical Storm Bonnie. After strengthening into a tropical storm in the Caribbean Sea, Bonnie made landfall at the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border and then proceeded to reach the East Pacific Ocean and strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane.
Bonnie's journey across both basins made it one for the record books, journeying more than 6,600 miles and becoming one of only three total storms to ever cross over and become a major hurricane.
The secret to Bonnie's success traversing Central America was its track - a path that escaped the highest mountain peaks of the region.
Julia is the eighteenth named tropical system in the East Pacific Ocean Basin this season.
A small piece of Julia's energy will hover near the southwestern Gulf of Mexico for a time this week. While there is remote chance this could evolve into a new tropical depression or storm for the Atlantic Basin, the much more likely scenario is for this disturbance to be shredded by stiff winds in the region.
If the system were to become a named storm on the Atlantic side, it would be called Karl
This time of the year, warm waters in the western Caribbean are a typical breeding ground for tropical systems in early October. Although this is not the case currently, the weather pattern during this time of year tends to favor tropical systems tracking northward to the Gulf Coast and occasionally along or just off the Eastern Seaboard.
Julia does not pose an immediate threat to the U.S., there is a slight chance that a regenerated Julia or a brand new system could wander close to parts of the Gulf Coast, or the waters east of Florida, during the middle of October.
AccuWeather meteorologists warn that residents in hurricane-prone areas should stay vigilant as the month of October continues, as October is responsible for some of the most notorious Atlantic hurricanes in history.
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