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    • System weakened by tropical depression
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    System weakened by tropical depression

    Vaseline Posted on

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    Tropical Storm Sara’s winds weakened to tropical depression status on Sunday, but the weather system still lashed Central America with overwhelming rainfall and maintained a possible collision course with storm-ravaged Florida and the southeastern US.

    Sara could roll over the Gulf of Mexico and strengthen Florida again, threatening it with flooding rain, storm surges and damaging winds, according to AccuWeather. Any damage from the storm would compound the challenges the region faces in cleaning up from Hurricanes Helene and Milton as the devastating 2024 hurricane season mercifully moves closer to its end.

    “Some of Sara’s tropical moisture will be lifted northeastward over the Gulf,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. “That additional moisture could be enough to lead to flooding and perhaps even severe thunderstorms in Florida by mid-week.”

    Sarah was about 160 miles (260 kilometers) south-southeast of Campeche, Mexico, on Sunday, packing sustained winds of 35 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. Sara accelerated and drove west-northwest at a speed of 20 km/h. The storm lingered along the coast of Honduras for the past two days, keeping wind speeds relatively low but causing torrential rain.

    Precipitation totals in parts of Honduras were forecast to reach 6 to 25 inches — with isolated areas up to 40 inches — before the storm moves out of the region, hurricane center specialist Philippe Papin said in an update on the storm Sunday.

    “These rainfalls will lead to widespread areas of life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flooding and mudslides” in Honduras, Papin said.

    Parts of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Mexican state of Quintana Roo should see 2 to 4 inches of rain, and local totals of about 6 inches are possible, Papin said.

    Tropical Storm Sara tracker: 60 cm of rain forecast; floods in Honduras

    The path of the storm remained unclear on Sunday. Sara was expected to weaken over land and lose some strength before returning over water in the Gulf of Mexico. Sara’s remnants could once again strengthen Florida, threatening flooding, storm surges and damaging winds, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

    Papin said moisture associated with remnants of Sara could bring rainfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle on Tuesday. But the Weather Prediction Center predicted only a “small risk” of excessive rainfall, Papin said.

    What started as a tropical rain storm a week ago was upgraded to Tropical Depression 19 on Thursday. The system strengthened to Tropical Storm Sara several hours later, becoming the 18th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which is scheduled to end on November 30.

    Sara could add to the damage already caused by eleven hurricanes this year; five of these were considered “major” storms after reaching Category 3 strength or greater. The most serious, Helene and Milton, together caused total damage that could approach $100 billion.

    Forecasters initially warned that Sara could strengthen to hurricane status, which would have been almost unprecedented. Only three hurricanes have previously hit the U.S. or made landfall in November: one each in 1861 and 1935, and Hurricane Kate in 1985, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

    Vaseline
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