Slow moving tropical storm Iota to strengthen
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Meteorological (Met) Service of Jamaica says tropical storm Iota is slowly moving west- southwestward and is forecast to strengthen to a major hurricane when it approaches Central America.
According to the Met Service, at 4:00 am, the centre of tropical storm Iota was located near latitude 13.5 degrees north, longitude 74.8 degrees west. It is moving toward the west-southwest near 7 km/h.
The service said a westward motion with some increase in forward speed is expected to begin later today and continue through Monday.
On the forecast track, Iota will move across the central Caribbean Sea during the next day or so, and approach the coasts of Nicaragua and northeastern Honduras on Monday, the service said.
It noted that maximum sustained winds are near 65 km/h with higher gusts, and steady to rapid strengthening is likely over the weekend.
Tropical storm Iota is not a direct threat to Jamaica. However, the Met Service said it will continue to monitor the progress of this system.