FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ The fifth hurricane of the 2020 season is likely to form by Wednesday night as Tropical Storm Nana makes its approach toward Belize, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm's forecast track projects that Nana will continue west across the Caribbean Sea, passing near but north of the coast of Honduras on Wednesday. It will likely approach the coast of Belize on Wednesday night and early Thursday, according to the NHC's public advisory.
Nana is expected to make landfall over Belize as a Category 1 hurricane, and wind shear is expected to limit its intensity, according to a forecast discussion.
Nana, the season's 14th tropical storm, formed Tuesday about 120 miles south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica.
As of 8 a.m., Nana was about 150 miles northeast of Limon, Honduras, moving west at 18 mph with top winds of 60. A Category 1 hurricane forms when sustained winds are in the range of 74 to 95 mph.
Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from Nana's center, the hurricane center said.
Northern Honduras and coastal Guatemala are under a tropical storm watch, the southern Yucatan Peninsula is under a tropical storm warning, and the entire coast of Belize is under a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch.
There have been four hurricanes so far in this busy Atlantic season: Hanna, Isais, Laura and Marco.
Laura was the season's first major hurricane, making landfall in Cameron, La., as a Category 4 on Aug. 27. Hanna, Isias and Marco were Category 1 hurricanes that made landfall in Padre Island, Texas; Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.; and at the mouth of the Mississippi River, respectively.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Omar is weakening over the open Atlantic.
Omar, the season's 15th tropical storm, formed about 225 miles east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., on Tuesday, about five hours after Nana, according to the NHC.
Tropical Storm Omar was about 350 miles northwest of Bermuda, the NHC said Wednesday in its 5 a.m. advisory. It was moving east-northeast at 14 mph, with 40 mph winds and higher gusts. It is not expected to strengthen much and it is likely to significantly weaken throughout the day on Thursday, becoming a remnant low by Thursday night, the NHC said in its outlook.
The system is expected to continue its curve away from land, moving in a northeast to eastward motion off the U.S. East Coast.
An area of the Atlantic midway between the Windward Islands and the west coast of Africa is bustling with activity from two tropical waves. One is an area of low pressure with showers and thunderstorms that is slowly becoming better organized, the hurricane center said.
The other is expected to move off the coast of Africa on Wednesday and merge with a disturbance a couple hundred miles southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands, the hurricane center said. If and when the disturbances merge, the system will develop and could become a tropical depression by the weekend as it moves slowly westward over the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean.
This is the time of year when storms tend to form in the open Atlantic, particularly near the Cabo Verde Islands. Those storms, which grow in size and intensity as they make the long trek westward across the Atlantic Ocean, are historically the most powerful and destructive hurricanes.
The remaining monikers for named storms this season in the Atlantic are: Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.
In August, the federal government issued an updated forecast for the season, predicting as many as 25 storms, which is more than the agency has ever forecast. The tropical weather experts at Colorado State University predicted that 2020 could possibly be the second-busiest season on record, behind only 2005, the year that produced Katrina and Wilma.
