‘Otto’ could be first hurricane to make landfall in Costa Rica since at least 1851

Otto gained strength in the Caribbean on Tuesday to become the seventh hurricane of the season so far and the latest hurricane on record in the Caribbean Sea. An “average” Atlantic hurricane season ends November 30.

A hurricane watch is up for Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua, and a tropical storm watch has been posted for Panama.

“These are startling locations for tropical cyclone advisories–understandably so,” Bob Henson wrote on Tuesday. “A storm of Otto’s expected strength has never made landfall so far south in the Caribbean, and there is no record of any hurricane striking Costa Rica.”

Otto formed on Monday as a tropical depression but has strengthened into a formidable storm since then. Sustained winds could be around 90 mph when it makes landfall early Thursday.

Read Angela Fritz’s story in The Washington Post - .‘Otto’ could be first hurricane to make landfall in Costa Rica since at least 1851."