Cristina expected – Tropical Storm Cristina is drifting off Nicaragua and is expected to bring several days of heavy rain and life-threatening flash flooding risk across parts of Central America after Tropical Storm Boris battered southern Mexico before dissipating. Nicaragua and
By the time the rain from Tropical Storm Boris had already soaked southern Mexico, another storm was taking shape in the Eastern Pacific—and now Central America is bracing for what comes next.
Tropical Storm Cristina is drifting off the coast of Nicaragua and is expected to bring several days of heavy rain to parts of the region as tropical activity increases in the Eastern Pacific. The storm is forecast to move in a slow. erratic pattern along the Central American coast through the week. before turning northwestward.
Cristina strengthened from Tropical Depression Three-E and was named Monday afternoon about 90 miles west-southwest of Managua, Nicaragua. The National Hurricane Center says Cristina has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is moving northeast at 3 mph. It is currently about 100 miles west-northwest of Managua. and is expected to meander along the coast before gradually making a turning northwestward.
The immediate concern is not the wind—it’s the water. The NHC says Cristina could bring heavy rain and life-threatening flash flooding to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala through midweek.
Nicaragua and El Salvador have issued Tropical Storm Warnings. Widespread rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches are expected through midweek, with localized amounts up to 12 inches.
Cristina is expected to gradually weaken by midweek, but that change doesn’t automatically mean the danger is gone. In the Eastern Pacific, tropical systems can still dump significant rain even as they weaken.
The last system already left its mark. Tropical Storm Boris moved farther inland over southern Mexico, bringing flooding rain before dissipating. Boris officially dissipated Tuesday morning over southern Mexico, according to the NHC. Even after dissipation. its remnants could still produce flash flooding and an additional 1 to 4 inches of rain across the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca.
There’s a larger reason emergency planners are watching the calendar closely. Sea surface temperatures near Mexico and farther west into the open Pacific Ocean are running well above their seasonal average and are expected to further warm in the coming weeks. becoming even more favorable for development. Tropical development at this point in the year is right on schedule. with the first named storm in the East Pacific typically forming around June 10.
As Cristina drifts and the week unfolds, the track may be slow, but the timetable for rain isn’t. Through midweek. the forecast focuses on a concentrated window of heavy precipitation across multiple countries—one that can overwhelm drainage systems quickly. turn roads into channels. and make flash flooding the kind of threat people can’t afford to treat lightly.
Tropical Storm Cristina Tropical Storm Boris Central America flooding flash flooding Nicaragua Tropical Storm Warning El Salvador Tropical Storm Warning Eastern Pacific hurricane season