Pacific coast could be most affected by hurricane Iota side effects, specialists say

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According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, in Costa Rica and Panama rain is expected
from 100 to 200 millimeters, with isolated maximum totals of 300 millimeters. - Emergency Commission photo -

Published Monday, November 16, 2020

Pacific coast could be most affected
by hurricane Iota side effects,
specialists say

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Hurricane Iota, which on Sunday remained in category 1, could be affecting mainly the northern part of the country and the Pacific coast, informed the Meteorologic Institute.

According to specialists, the hurricane is also being affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone that is located near Costa Rica.

The Intertropical Convergence Zone, known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms due to the dull windless weather, is the area where the northeast and southeast trade winds converge. The zone appears as a band of clouds, usually, thunderstorms, that circles the globe near the Equator.

Specialists forecast increasing in thunderstorms in the country, but with a greater risk of causing an overflow of rivers and landslides due to the maximum recorded accumulation of water in the soils

The following are the areas of the country with the greatest accumulation of water in the soils:

• In the Northern Zone, near the Nicaraguan border where a maximum of 20 millimeters of water has accumulated.

• In the North Pacific Coast (Guanacaste Province) where maximums of 28 millimeters of water have accumulated.

• In the central Pacific coast (the central area of Puntarenas Province) the maximum accumulated rain musts are 15 millimeters

• And in the southern part of the Pacific coast, the maximum amounts of accumulated rainfall are 13 millimeters.

Due to the possible secondary effects that the hurricane Iota would cause when it hits between Nicaragua and Honduras today, the authorities of the emergency commission decreed the following alerts.

Orange Alert status for the cantons of Nicoya, Hojancha and Nandayure in Guanacaste Province, Parrita and Quepos, Coto Brus, Corredores, and Golfito in Puntarenas Province. This alert is established when a high-risk situation can cause an emergency to the people in a specific area.

A Yellow Alert was established in most of the country. The alert status serves as an announcement for the rescue forces to prepare for an increased danger of a natural phenomenon that will affect the population in a specific region.

The Green Alert was established on the Caribbean Coast (Limón Province). This alert is given when the authorities activate the community's emergency commissions to take action due to the danger related to the alert.

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, the warning continues for the coast of Nicaragua from south of Sandy Bay Sirpi to Bluefields and for the northern coast of Honduras from west of Punta Patuca to Punta Castilla.

The Iota hurricane expected to hit Nicaragua early today and Honduras by Monday night.

At 1 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, the center of Hurricane Iota was located over the southwest Caribbean Sea about 170 miles (275 km) east of Isla De Providencia, Colombia, and about 315 miles (520 km) east-southeast of Cabo Gracias A Dios on the Nicaragua- Honduras border.

Iota is moving toward the west near 9 mph (15 km/h). A westward to west-northwestward motion is expected through landfall. After landfall, a westward to west-southwestward motion is forecasted.

On the forecast track, the core of Iota will move across the southwestern Caribbean Sea, pass near or over Providencia Island early Monday, and approach the coasts of northeastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras within the hurricane warning area late Monday.

The maximum sustained are near 90 mph (150 km/h) with higher gusts. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles (185 km).

Rapid strengthening is expected to take place during the next 36 hours, and Iota is forecast to be an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane when it approaches Central America.

Iota is expected to produce the following rainfall accumulations through Friday morning, experts said. It is forecasted in Honduras, northern Nicaragua, Guatemala, southern Belize between 200 to 400 mm of rains. Isolated maximum totals of 500 to 750- millimeters of rain will be possible, especially from northeast Nicaragua into northern Honduras.

While in Costa Rica and Panama rain is expected from 100 to 200 millimeters, with isolated maximum totals of 300 millimeters.

This rainfall would lead to significant life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding, along with mudslides in areas of higher terrain, specialists said.

A.M. Costa Rica urges readers to share this alert with their contacts.

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