Hurricane Lisa makes landfall in Belize; Hurricane Martin strengthens
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Hurricane Lisa made landfall about 10 miles southwest of Belize City on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after becoming the season’s sixth hurricane.
The season’s seventh hurricane, Martin, also formed Wednesday in the north-central Atlantic Ocean.
And, the National Hurricane Center advisory says a third storm could develop by the weekend.
Lisa was a Category 1 hurricane producing maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and moving west at 12 mph when it came ashore, the hurricane center said. Lisa is forecast to cross northern Guatemala and move into southeastern Mexico by Thursday.
Martin had top winds of 85 mph at 5 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday and was moving northeast at 31 mph. Martin is expected to transition to a powerful extratropical system on Thursday. It is no threat to land.
Forecasters are also monitoring a third possible storm, an area of low pressure in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. The area could move into the eastern Caribbean and develop over the weekend, the hurricane center said in its 2 p.m. advisory. It has 20% chance of developing as it moves north.
There have been two major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or above, so far this season. NOAA has predicted between two and six more hurricanes to form before hurricane season officially ends on Nov. 30.
The next named storm to form will be Nicole.
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