The first tropical storm of the Eastern Pacific season was on an unusual, dangerous track toward the Central American coast on Wednesday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that Tropical Storm Adrian could bring torrential rains to much of Central America in the coming days – as much as 20 inches in a few isolated mountain areas.
The storm could be in the Caribbean by the weekend, bringing much needed and dreaded rain to the Cayman Islands; needed because of the drought but dreaded because the roofs of many homes are still covered only with tarpaulins following Hurricane Ivan’s destruction in September.
By Wednesday morning, Adrian already had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and it was centered about 320 miles southwest of the coast of El Salvador. Forecasters said it was expected to strengthen.
Tropical storms become hurricanes if their maximum sustained winds hit 74 mph
With Adrian moving toward the northeast at near 8 mph, forecasters said its center could hit land by Friday.
By Tuesday evening, the depression already had winds of 35 mph – approaching the 39 mph level at which it would become a tropical storm. Forecasters said there was a chance it could surpass hurricane strength of 74 mph before hitting land.
Most Pacific storms tend toward the northwest, marching roughly parallel to the coastline and then edging out to sea or veering inland.
The Center said that since 1966, only one tropical depression has ever hit the coasts of Guatemala or El Salvador in May and none have done it so early. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season only began on Sunday.
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