‘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."

Hurricane Warnings for Haiti, Jamaica as Category 4 Matthew Restrengthens

Despite its unorthodox structure, Hurricane Matthew remains a formidable hurricane in the southern Caribbean Sea and an increasing threat to parts of Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba.

Matthew briefly attained Category 5 intensity late Friday, when its top sustained winds hit 160 mph--only 36 hours after Matthew was still a tropical storm. By early Saturday afternoon, Matthew’s peak winds had decreased to 140 mph, but they have since resurged to 150 mph as of the 5 pm EDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Matthew is now a high-end Category 4 hurricane.

As noted by Jeff Masters in our morning post, only a few hurricanes in the Atlantic have bolted from tropical storm to Cat 5 intensity in less than two days. Hurricane Wilma of 2005 and Hurricane Patricia of 2015 accomplished the feat in 24 hours; Hurricane Felix of 2007 did it in 30 hours; Hurricane Rita of 2005 and Hurricane Andrew of 1992 did it in 36 hours; and the Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 did so in 42 hours.

Read the Wunderblog story - “Hurricane Warnings for Haiti, Jamaica as Category 4 Matthew Restrengthens.”