NU Online News Service, Oct. 22, 2:52 p.m. EDT
Tropical Storm Richard is expected to become a hurricane as it moves toward the Yucatan Peninsula in the next three days, said the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
After making landfall the storm should weaken because of land interaction and wind shear, the NHC said.
Two models used by the NHC had called for Richard, the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, to strengthen to a Category 3 storm, but now these models do not predict such an aggressive intensification, likely because Richard is now expected to moved further west to land rather than toward the open waters of the Caribbean.
None of the models currently turn the storm northward, the NHC said.
A tropical storm watch is in effect for the Nicaragua and Honduras border. Richard's maximum sustained winds remain unchanged from yesterday at about 40 mph, extending out 105 miles.
About three-to-five inches of rainfall can be expected in northern Honduras, which could produce flash floods and mudslides, the NHC said.
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