Hurricane Bonnie becomes more powerful near Mexico

Hurricane Bonnie becomes more powerful near Mexico. 

After forming in the southwest Caribbean Sea, moving across Central America, and emerging into the East Pacific Ocean within 24 hours, Hurricane Bonnie has left a distinctive mark on meteorological history. 

The second named storm of the Atlantic season is currently the upcoming hurricane in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Bonnie intensified over East Pacific waters after 10 p.m. CDT on Sunday, the third hurricane of the season in the basin, and moved just west of Nicaragua. 

Hurricane Bonnie was a Category 1 hurricane at the time, according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, with sustained winds of 80 mph (128 km/h), which falls between 74 and 95 mph or 119 and 153 km/h.

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The National Hurricane Center reports that as of 10 a.m. CDT on Monday, Bonnie had intensified considerably and had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) while moving at a speed of 18 mph (30 km/h) to the west-northwest (NHC). 

Three hours later, the storm had moved 210 miles (370 km) south of Acapulco, Mexico, and was now a Category 2 hurricane due to Bonnie’s maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 km/h).

Bonnie was a 50 mph (80 km/h) tropical storm when it landed on the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border on Friday night, with torrential rainfall posing the most threat to lives and property in both nations. 

There have only been two named storms to landfall in Costa Rica, in 1887 and 1973. 

Tropical Storm Martha made landfall in Panama in 1969 and was the only storm to make landfall farther south.

By 10 a.m. CDT on Saturday, Bonnie had departed the coast of Nicaragua and was navigating the East Pacific. 

The NHC decided not to change the storm’s name to the next one on the list for the East Pacific hurricane season of 2022 since its circulation stayed intact and did not break down over land. So instead, it continued to call the storm Bonnie (Darby). 

This is the first crossover storm since Hurricane Otto in November 2016. It crossed Costa Rica to the Eastern Pacific and formed into a tropical storm.

“Nearly 20 crossover storms, tracked in both the Eastern Pacific and the Atlantic basins, have been formally identified. 

Although they may have crossed, another 20 or so storms never received official designations, “Jesse Ferrell said, senior weather editor at AccuWeather.