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Hurricane Otto Update

Hurricane Otto Update

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Hurricane Otto Expected to Make Landfall Shortly!

The eye of Hurricane Otto is just offshore Nicaragua. It will come ashore shortly  in the vicinity of Punta Gorda. This is roughly between Bluefields and Greytown. This area is a remote and has a low populated, which is good news. Yet communities such as Ban Ku Kuk, Monkey Point and Corn River are near and could even feel the eyewall of Hurricane Otto.

Currently there is heavy rain coming down in Bluefields. There are with a sustained winds of about 15 miles an hour from the north northeast. There is no marine and pluvial navigation along the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua until further notice.

The area around El Castillo and Boca de Sabalo received a fair amount of rain overnight. The mighty San Juan River had already increased its flow by over two feet in that area as of 7:00 am Nicaragua time. These communities are expecting the river to jump its banks by the time the storm is over. The good news is that this area is not prown to fast running water flash floods.

The Lake Nicaragua basin is huge, and much of the water that will fall from the storm will end up in the lake. As a result, the lake will increase its water level by several feet. It will take several weeks to get back to its normal height as it drains out the San Juan River.

The storm is moving at an approximate speed of 9 miles per hour (15 km per hour). If it continues at that speed it should take it between 8 and 10 hours to traverse overland to Lake Nicaragua. It will do so in the vicinity of San Carlos, the capital of Rio San Juan.  From there is will continue towards the west southwest, following the southern shore of Lake Cocibolca. This is just south of the Solentiname Islands.

It should be coming offshore into the Pacific just south of the Costa Rica – Nicaragua. The forecast calls for it to still be a tropical storm. If so, it will keep its name in this different hurricane basin. A weekend storm is good news as far as wind speed will cause less damage. But is not not necessarily mean that there will be less rain.

There is one possible bright side to Hurricane Otto. A sustained high volume of water flowing down the San Juan River could make it easier for larger fish to swim up and down the river from the Caribbean Sea. Just recently, I heard news of some shark sightings near Boca de Sabalos. This means that sharks are migrating between the Caribbean and Lake Nicaragua!

It is a matter of a few hours before the brunt of the storm. Strong winds are already reported along the coast especially in San Juan de Nicaragua. This is to the south of where the eye will come ashore. Wind gusts are also present in Bluefields to the north.

Hurricane Otto, Nicaragua

Hurricane Otto Nicaragua 2016

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Hurricane Otto Threatens the Coast of Nicaragua

Hurrican Otto, a unique and rare meteorology event is about to unfold along the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. In over 150 years of records, there has never been a Hurricane to make a direct hit in this area. As a matter of fact, this is the first direct hurricane on record to slam into the coast of Costa Rica. It is also the furthest south hurricane to hit Nicaragua.

According to forecast issued by the National Hurricane Center, the center of the storm will come ashore near the Rio San Juan Delta. This is a low lying area with sandbars and swamps. The area is vulnerable to storm surge. A three or four foot surge will flood entire coastal towns, such as Greytown.

I had the opportunity to be in San Juan del Norte in late November, 2014, during a passing cold front. It rained cats and dogs, and that was enough to leave half of the town flooded. The rain, together with the storm surge will not be a nice scene. The mighty San Juan River will most likely increase its flow due to the rain. This will create a situation where the river will jump its banks when the sea level rises due to the storm surge.

If you are heading to San Juan de Nicaragua, or the Rio San Juan area, consider rescheduling your visit. The area around El Castillo and Boca de Sabalos should fare a lot better. However, there will be some serious rain and tropical storm force winds will blow. From what I can see in the forecast, the eye of the storm will follow the San Juan River. Then it will go across Lake Nicaragua and then out to the Pacific, somewhere just due south of San Juan del Sur.

If forecasts come true, Hurricane Otto will be the first Hurricane in the Eastern Pacific basin to keep its name given to it in the Atlantic Basin. Otto will cause severe rains throughout Costa Rica, Nicaragua and even parts of Honduras.  There is no doubt that the most significant threat to Nicaragua will be the rain.

Hurricane Otto will make landfall early tomorrow. Yet the strong rain and wind will begin to affect the coast as early as this evening. It is imperative that you take this into consideration. Make sure you find a safe spot to ride the storm, stay away from the coast and far from the river banks. Expect power outages and telephone service interruptions. Internet service should also be an issue.

Take this as advice from a hurricane veteran.  I was in Cancun, Mexico in 1988 when Hurricane Gilbert came ashore as a category 5 storm. I was also in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in 1998, when Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras. Above all, keep safe and hunker down! Best of luck!

 

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Nicaragua Weather

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Wondering about the Nicaragua Weather?

Although Nicaragua is a relatively small country, there are several very distinct weather patterns that affect the climate here. For weather purposes, it is good to divide the country in three distinct sections, the Pacific lowlands, the Atlantic lowlands and the northern highlands.

The Pacific, which is the most densely populated region of the country, is directly affected by the weather that spawns off the Pacific. Fortunately for Nicaragua, its geographic location makes it almost impossible for an Eastern Pacific hurricane to affect it, as these are rarely spawned south of the Gulf of Fonseca, which is the northernmost land that Nicaragua has on the Pacific. In this area, the rainy season usually begins in May and lasts until early September, and the dry season is between October and April. Although always warm, the hottest months are February, March and April, which mark the end of the dry season. Typically the humidity in the Pacific area is quite low, whereas it is usually very humid on the Caribbean side of Nicaragua.

The Northern Highlands usually have the same pattern of wet and dry months as the Pacific, However the weather is usually quite cooler due to the higher altitudes for most of these towns. As such, the departments of Esteli, Nueva Segovia, Madriz, and Matagalpa are usually several degrees cooler that those in the Pacific, like Chinandega, Leon, Managua, Carazo, Granada, Masaya and Rivas.

The Caribbean Lowlands, basically the land east of Lake Nicaragua is more influenced by weather formed in the Caribbean Sea. Here the rainy season is usually later then that on the Pacific, with the rainy months starting more towards July and August and continuing as late as January of the next year, with February through June being the dryer months. This is because of two reasons, first because the Western Caribbean hurricane season begins August and ends in November, and then because the Caribbean is subject to the influence of cold fronts coming down from the north. In any case, the inter tropical convergence zone directly affects all of Nicaragua and weather can be somewhat unstable. Historically, there are very few hurricanes that affect the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua; however there have been some cases these have caused much damage to life and infrastructure. In recent years, the worst case was that of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 that devastated Honduras and did a lot of damage on the Pacific side of Nicaragua due to massive amounts of rain.

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