Hurricane JULIA ashore over central Nicaragua
Hurricane JULIA made a category one landfall over eastern Nicaragua with winds peaking 80 knots as it moved ashore near Laguna de Perlas around 0100 this morning. Along with hurricane-force winds, this produced life-threatening rainfall of 6 to 10 inches, with isolated amounts of up to 15 inches in places. JULIA is now moving west at 15 knots crossing the low lying foothills of the central mountains of Nicaragua and approaching the lakes to the east of the capital, Managua some 150 miles to the west. Maximum sustained winds are near 75 knots over a tropical storm force radius of 105 miles which equates to a hurricane severity index rating of 8 out of 50 (3 for size and 5 for intensity). JULIA is expected to continue to the west today while weakening rapidly before emerging into the far eastern Pacific by this evening as a weak tropical storm. Heavy rainfall across Central America that could lead to flooding is forecast to be the main threat for the next few days.
Stand by for flash flooding and mudslides over central Nicaragua otherwise stand easy.