Hurricane Eta Intensifies to Category 4 Ahead of Catastrophic Central America Landfall

[Roland99]

https://weather.com/news/news/2020-11-02-hurricane-eta-breaking-alert-cat4

Hurricane Eta has rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane as it heads toward a potentially catastrophic landfall in Nicaragua Tuesday.

As of the National Hurricane Center's 4 p.m. EST advisory Monday, Eta had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Some additional strengthening is possible before landfall.

Eta is forecast to bring a catastrophic storm surge and destructive winds to the northeast Nicaraguan coast near the storm's eyewall Tuesday. Eta's slow movement through the rest of the week is likely to bring catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides from heavy rain well inland over Central America.

Eta became only the fourth November hurricane to reach Category 4 intensity in historical records dating to 1851, according to Colorado State University tropical scientist Phil Klotzbach. Paloma in 2008 was the last hurricane to do so.

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