Hurricane Eta brings 'catastrophic wind damage' as it makes landfall in Nicaragua with 140 mph winds

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Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Hurricane Eta continues to bring significant wind damage to Nicaragua
Hurricane Eta continues to bring significant wind damage to Nicaragua

Hurricane Eta made landfall south of Nicaragua with estimated wind speeds of 140 mph around 4 p.m.

The storm is threatening to bring catastrophic wind damage, life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding, and landslides to Central America.

As of the NHC's 10 p.m. update, Hurricane Eta has maximum sustained winds of 105 mph and is moving west at 6 mph.

Forecasters said central and northern Nicaragua into much of Honduras could get 15 to 25 inches of rain, with 35 inches in isolated areas.

Hurricane Eta will weaken as it moves farther inland over northern Nicaragua through Wednesday morning, and then move across central portions of Honduras by Thursday morning.

Eta is the 28th named Atlantic storm this season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. However, this is the first time the Greek letter Eta is being used as a storm name because after the 2005 season ended, meteorologists went back and determined there had been a storm that should have gotten a name but didn't.

Hurricane season still has a month to go, ending Nov. 30. And in 2005, the 28th named storm didn't form until the end of December.

Historic hurricane season prompts question: Can we run out of Tropical Storm names?