Tropical Storm Sara Hits Honduras With Heavy Rain

Tropical Storm Sara will bring heavy rain to Central America through early next week, and it is expected to weaken and dissipate over the Yucatan Peninsula.

As of 6 p.m. CST, Tropical Storm Sara was located near 16.2 N, 86.3 W, or about 35 miles southwest of Isla Guanaja, Honduras, and 155 miles southeast of Belize City. Sara had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph with a minimum central pressure of 997 mb, or 29.44 inches of mercury. It was moving west at 2 mph.

Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect along the Caribbean coast from Punta Patuca, Honduras through Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico, including the entirety of the Carribean coasts of Belize and Guatemala as well the Bay Islands of Honduras.

Moving very close to the coastline, Tropical Storm Sara has struggled to intensify thanks to its interaction with the mountainous terrain of Central America. However, the flip side of this has been very heavy rainfall across nothwestern Honduras, where totals could reach 30 inches, if not higher. Additionally, rain totals of 10 to 20 inches from Sara are expected through most tropical storm warning areas. Sara may skirt west-northwestward across the Gulf of Honduras, allowing the storm to gain some energy this weekend and empowering it to a strong tropical storm.

However, that burst will be short-lived as a run-in with the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize is likely later this weekend. Heavy rain and gusty winds will be found across the southern Yucatan, with the land mass likely to rip apart Sara's circulation. Whatever remains of Sara as it exits the Yucatan is questionable, but some of its moisture could bend northeastward across the Gulf, pair up with a cold front and bring moderate to heavy rain to Florida during the middle of next week.

Thus far, the Atlantic tropics have tallied 18 named storms to go along with 11 hurricanes and five “major” (Category 3 or stronger) hurricanes, all of which are well above average. Although the hurricane season “officially” ends on November 30, numerous storms have formed in the tail end of November and challenged Santa Claus for December superiority. Keep checking WeatherBug for the latest on the tropics throughout the year.