Tropical Storm Lisa Expected to Become a Hurricane in the Caribbean - The New York Times

Tropical Storm Lisa formed connected Monday and was gaining spot successful the cardinal Caribbean Sea, becoming the 12th named tempest of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season. It was expected to go a hurricane connected Wednesday implicit the northwestern Caribbean Sea.

As of 8 p.m. connected Monday, the tempest was astir 305 miles south-southeast of Grand Cayman successful the Cayman Islands and moving westbound astatine 14 miles per hour, with maximum winds of 45 m.p.h, according to the National Hurricane Center successful Miami.

A tropical tempest ticker was successful effect Monday nighttime for Jamaica, the northbound seashore of Honduras, coastal Guatemala and Mexico from Chetumal to Punta Herrero successful Quintana Roo, the halfway said. The Bay Islands of Honduras and the seashore of Belize were nether a hurricane watch, meaning that hurricane conditions are imaginable wrong 48 hours.

For bluish Honduras, Jamaica, Guatemala and the eastbound Yucatán Peninsula, rainfall amounts were expected to beryllium 2 to 4 inches, with localized totals of 6 inches, the Hurricane Center said.

The tempest was expected to nutrient rainfall of 3 to 5 inches done Thursday evening, with section amounts of up to 8 inches crossed portions of Belize and the Bay Islands, and up to 2 inches crossed parts of the Cayman Islands and eastbound Nicaragua.

“This rainfall could nutrient flash floods from bluish Honduras northward to the eastbound Yucatán Peninsula,” the Hurricane Center said.

The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June done November, had a comparatively quiescent start, with lone 3 named storms earlier Sept. 1 and nary during August, the archetypal clip that has happened since 1997. Storm enactment picked up successful aboriginal September with Danielle and Earl, which formed wrong a time of each other. By the extremity of September, Hurricane Ian had slammed into the seashore of Florida arsenic a Category 4 hurricane, 1 of the astir almighty storms to deed the United States successful the past decade.

Last year, determination were 21 named storms, aft a record-breaking 30 successful 2020. For the past 2 years, meteorologists person exhausted the database of names utilized to place storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, an occurrence that has happened lone 1 different time, successful 2005.

The links betwixt hurricanes and clime alteration person go clearer with each passing year. Data shows that hurricanes person go stronger worldwide during the past 4 decades. A warming satellite tin expect stronger hurricanes implicit time, and a higher incidence of the astir almighty storms — though the wide fig of storms could drop, due to the fact that factors similar stronger upwind shear could support weaker storms from forming.

Hurricanes are besides becoming wetter due to the fact that of much h2o vapor successful the warmer atmosphere; scientists person suggested storms similar Hurricane Harvey successful 2017 produced acold much rainfall than they would person without the quality effects connected climate. Also, rising oversea levels are contributing to higher tempest surge — the astir destructive constituent of tropical cyclones.

Johnny Diaz contributed reporting.