Map shows where ‘life-threatening’ Tropical Storm Sara will hit in hours

Tropical Storm Sara has formed in the western Caribbean Sea and threatens to cause catastrophic flooding through the weekend.

Sara became the 18th storm late in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, one that has been particularly active and devastating in the US.

Tropical Storm Sara formed on early Thursday afternoon about 50 miles northeast of the border of Honduras and Nicaragua, according to The Weather Channel.

It has sustained winds of 40mph and is moving west at 10 to 15mph.

Sara has a minimum central pressure of 999 mb, which led it to be upgraded from Tropical Depression 19, said the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical storm warnings and watches were previously issued for coastal areas of Central America.

Sara is projected to hurl isolated rainfall totaling 30 inches to northern Honduras and ‘potentially catastrophic’ flash floods and mudslides this weekend, WESH reported.

Next week, Sara is expected to move north and possible head to the Gulf of Mexico.

Though it is too early to determine Sara’s trajectory, some models show it potentially making landfall in Florida.

‘Florida residents should closely monitor the forecast updates as they come in,’ said CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan.

While some models have Sara possibly making a right turn and going in the direction of Florida next week, others have it heading to the Gulf and dissipating.

‘It is too soon to determine what impacts the system could bring to portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, including Florida, the Florida Keys, and Cuba during the middle portion of next week,’ stated the hurricane center.

‘Residents in these areas should regularly monitor updates to the forecast.’

Forecasters have not projected whether Sara will strengthen into a hurricane. The threshold for a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is 74mph.

Sara formed just over a month after Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s central west coast and killed at least two dozen people.

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