FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Earl reached hurricane strength Wednesday afternoon, with maximum winds of 75 miles per hour, as lashed the Honduran coast.
A NOAA Hurricane Hunter plane found the winds had achieved the 74 mph threshold for a Category 1 hurricane. The storm is expected to strengthen over the next few hours as it approaches Belize.
Tropical storm-force winds, which means winds of at least 39 miles per hour, extend much farther from the center than in previous reports. The winds now reach up to 140 miles from the storm's center, up from 90 miles Wednesday morning, according to the 5 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
Moving west at 14 mph, the storm was 150 miles east of Belize City.
Earl is expected to make landfall in Belize late Wednesday night or early Thursday.
A hurricane warning is in effect for Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico to the Belize-Guatemala border and for Bay Islands, Honduras.
Earl is expected to bring rains of eight to 12 inches to parts of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, which could bring "life-threatening flash floods and mud slides," the hurricane center said.
A storm surge could raise water levels four to six feet along Belize and the Yucatan.
