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Tropical Storm Eta is now churning through the Caribbean

The storm started Saturday as a tropical system and became a tropical storm that night. It could become a hurricane by Monday.
 
Tropical Storm Eta formed in the Caribbean on Saturday night and could strengthen into Hurricane Eta by Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Tropical Storm Eta formed in the Caribbean on Saturday night and could strengthen into Hurricane Eta by Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center. [ National Hurricane Center ]
Published Nov. 1, 2020|Updated Nov. 1, 2020

Tropical Storm Eta formed in the Caribbean Sea late Saturday and is headed right at Central America.

The rapidly intensifying storm started the morning as a tropical system, strengthened into a tropical depression in the late afternoon and on Halloween night became the 28th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic season, tying the record set by the catastrophic 2005 hurricane season.

It was located about 270 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and moving west at 15 mph on a course for Central America, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 11 p.m. Saturday advisory. It was generating maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.

It could strengthen into Hurricane Eta late Monday as it draws near the Nicaraguan coast. A hurricane watch is in effect for areas around the Honduran-Nicaraguan border.

Related: La Niña is here. That’s bad news for hurricane season and wildfires
Tropical Storm Eta formed in the Caribbean on Saturday night and could strengthen into Hurricane Eta by Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center. [ National Hurricane Center ]

Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and the first time meteorologists have had to go that far into the Greek alphabet to name a storm.

Storms have developed at such a rapid pace this year that all 21 storm names were used up when Tropical Storm Wilfred formed on Sept. 18, the earliest 21st to form on record.

There will be even more Greek-named storms as the Atlantic hurricane season closes in on the official end of Nov. 30. But the re-emergence of the La Niña weather phenomenon in the Pacific could mean Atlantic storms will keep forming through December.

If Eta becomes a hurricane, it will be the 12th hurricane of the year.

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2020 Tampa Bay Times Hurricane Guide

HURRICANE SEASON IS HERE: Get ready and stay informed at tampabay.com/hurricane

PREPARE FOR COVID-19 AND THE STORM: The CDC's tips for this pandemic-hurricane season

PREPARE YOUR STUFF: Get your documents and your data ready for a storm

BUILD YOUR KIT: The stuff you’ll need to stay safe — and comfortable — for the storm

PROTECT YOUR PETS: Your pets can’t get ready for a storm. That’s your job

NEED TO KNOW: Click here to find your evacuation zone and shelter

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