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| Evacuations in Nicaragua due to Hurricane Eta. Photo via BBC |
Eta then moved inland and its winds are rapidly diminishing as Central American mountains destroy the now former hurricane's circulation.
But those torrential rains are continuing, and I definitely fear for what people are going through in Nicaragua and Honduras with the flooding.
It will take awhile - perhaps days - for the news of exactly what is happening in the disaster zone, but what we find out will surely be grim. There is no doubt epic flash flooding and mudslides going on. The destructive winds that hit the coast of Nicaragua will almost be an afterthought compared to this.
So, we'll keep an eye on this.
Plus, we have to keep an eye on the actual storm. Usually, when a hurricane plows into Central America, it dies a quick death in the mountains and that's that. Every once in a while, some remains of such a storm emerge into the Pacific Ocean to create a new tropical storm or hurricane.
Or, somewhat more rarely and occasionally, the pitiful remains of a Central American hurricane somehow get kicked back out to the western Caribbean Sea or southern Gulf of Mexico to create more mischief.
That appears to be what will likely happen with former Hurricane Eta. As the National Hurricane Center forecasts, the low level circulation of Eta should be destroyed within a day or two. But its upper level spin is forecast to come back out into the far western Caribbean Sea around Friday.
This will create what I might call a zombie version of Eta. The NHC thinks it will redevelop into a tropical storm and become a possible threat to Cuba and Florida.
Nobody thinks Zombie Eta will become an extreme Category 4 hurricane as it was when it tortured Nicaragua this week.
But this is 2020, so if anything can go wrong, it will. Which makes me say "go figure" with the forecast for Zombie Eta. I imagine if a revived Eta affects Florida early next week, its primary threat would be heavy rains.
South Florida had a sopping wet October, so they're especially flood prone right now. If Eta arrives, that could trigger some serious flooding. That's not an official forecast, at least not yet, but it's something to keep an eye on.
VERMONT WARMTH
As promised for days now, we're about to enter an odd (for November) warm spell. Odd mostly because of how long it's expected to last.
You'll notice the increasing warmth today, but it won't really hit until tomorrow. If you have a little snow on the ground, it will be gone by sunset today. If you have a lot of snow on the ground - I'm talking to you western slopes of the Green Mountains boys and girls - it might take a couple or few days, but it will go.
Today, high temperatures will be in the 40s to near 50 in the warm spots, especially south and west of Interstate 89. Then we get a spell starting tomorrow and lasting through at least Tuesday in which afternoon highs in Vermont reach the 60s in many areas. (Friday might be briefly a little cooler, but not by much).
Another oddity will be the lack of precipitation. It's possible a couple of weak, stalled out fronts north of us could spread a few sprinkles our way. But don't expect anything major until at least Tuesday.
Also, there will be at least some sunshine almost every day through Tuesday. It probably won't be crystal clear most of the time. However, such a long stretch of days with at least a chance of seeing some some in November is rare. This is normally the gloomiest month of the year.
There's still a chance some record highs might fall. There was a smattering of record highs in the Midwest and northern Plains yesterday, and that state of affairs looks like it wants to spread this way by the weekend.
For those of you who prefer winter, relax. It's only November. You have plenty of time coming up to enjoy the snow.
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