Tropical Storm Delta formed in the northwest Caribbean Sea on Monday and could turn into a hurricane as it passes near Cuba, which is already under cyclone warning, and then continue to Louisiana or the Florida Panhandle later this week.
Delta, the twenty-fifth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has maximum winds of 40 miles per hour (65 km/h)
Delta was 130 miles south of Negril, Jamaica, and 270 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, the National Hurricane Center (HNC) reported.
“Additional strengthening is expected and the tropical storm is expected to turn into a hurricane as it moves near or over western Cuba,” the HNC predicted.
Here are the 11 AM EDT Monday Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Delta. Follow the latest forecasts at https://t.co/zgHl1xGAVL pic.twitter.com/Up2zM3zaR8
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 5, 2020
They issued hurricane surveillance (possible hurricane conditions in the next 48 hours) for the Cuban provinces of Pinar del Río, Artemisa and Isla de la Juventud.
A tropical storm alert (possible tropical storm conditions in the next 36 hours) is in effect for Havana and the Cayman Islands.
The HNC said Delta will cause dangerous cyclonic storm surge that will increase water levels between 3 and 5 feet above normal tide levels along the coast of Youth Island and along the southern coast of western Cuba.
Until mid-week, this system is expected to produce between 3 and 5 inches of rain, with isolated total maximums of 8 inches in Jamaica and western Cuba. This rain could cause significant flooding and landslides.
In the Cayman Islands they forecast 2 to 4 inches of rain.
Delta set a record in this hurricane season as the first storm with a 25th Atlantic name recorded earlier. The previous record was November 15, 2005, according to University of Colorado hurricane guru Phil Klotzbach.
