Tropical Storm Lisa is expected to strengthen Tuesday and become a short-lived hurricane by early Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, Lisa was located 480 miles east of Belize City, Belize, and 220 miles south of Grand Cayman.
It was producing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and moving west at 14 mph. Its tropical-storm-force winds extended out 105 miles from its center.
Hurricane watches and tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect in areas of Honduras, Mexico, Belize and Guatemala as of early Tuesday. Lisa will pass south of Cayman Islands Tuesday, the center’s latest advisory said.
Lisa is expected to approach Central America by Wednesday. By Wednesday night, Lisa’s wind speeds will reach a maximum of 80 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane. It is expected to drop back to tropical storm strength, with top winds of 65 mph, once inland Thursday morning, the center’s latest advisory said.
Breaking News Alerts
As it happens
Get updates on developing stories as they happen with our free breaking news email alerts.
It could bring 1 to 2 inches of rain to this week to portions of the Cayman Islands and eastern Nicaragua.
Jamaica, Mexico’s eastern Yucatan Peninsula, Northern Honduras and Guatemala could see 2 to 4 inches of rain, with up to 6 inches in localized areas.
Belize and Honduras’ Bay Islands could see flash flooding and 3 to 5 inches of rain, with localized totals of up to 8 inches in Belize, the National Hurricane Center said.
[ STAY UPDATED with the latest forecast for tropical weather at SunSentinel.com/hurricane ]
The storm currently poses no threat to Florida.
Forecasters also expect an area of low pressure about 300 miles northeast of Bermuda to become a subtropical or tropical storm Tuesday. The next named storm to form will be Martin.
There have been two hurricanes and two major hurricanes, Fiona and Ian, so far this season.
NOAA has predicted between two and six more hurricanes to form before hurricane season officially ends on Nov. 30.
Read More: Tropical Storm Lisa expected to become hurricane this week