Rain moved through Caracas, Venezuela on Wednesday, part of a weather system that has formed into Tropical Storm Bonnie.
Bonnie was threatening the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border after becoming the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Tropical Storm Bonnie became the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season on Friday, bringing with it the risk of life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides, after intense winds and rain began lashing Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A storm is given name after it reaches wind speeds of at least 39 miles per hour, but days before Bonnie reached that point, it was bringing heavy rain and weather alerts to the Caribbean region. By Friday the storm had strengthened slightly and moved into the southwestern Caribbean Sea. The hurricane watch was placed on the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border, up to Laguna de Perlas, Nicaragua, and is expected to move through the area into Saturday.
The system was forecast to weaken when crossing over Central America, but it was expected to restrengthen once it reached the warmer waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday. Forecasters are watching two more storms in the Atlantic, including one expected to bring heavy rain this weekend to the American Gulf Coast, where flood alerts are in effect in Texas and Louisiana. The other, much farther east, is expected to follow Bonnie's path toward Central America over the weekend.
Tropical Storm Alex, which formed on June 5, was the first named storm of what is expected to be an above normal hurricane season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. If that prediction is true, 2022 would be the seventh year in a row with an above-normal season. This year, meteorologists predict that the season — which runs through Nov. 30 — will produce 14 to 21 named storms. Six to 10 of them are expected to become hurricanes, and up to six of them are predicted to strengthen into major hurricanes, classified as Category 3 storms with winds of at least 111 miles per hour.
There were 21 named storms last year, after a record-breaking 30 in 2020. In the past two years, meteorologists have exhausted the list of names used to identify storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, an event that only happened one other time, in 2005.
The links between hurricanes and climate change have become clearer with each passing year. Hurricanes have become stronger worldwide over the past four decades, according to data. A warming planet can expect stronger hurricanes over time, and a higher incidence of the most powerful storms - though the overall number of storms could drop because factors like stronger wind shear could keep weaker storms from forming.
Hurricane Harvey in 2017 produced far more rain than they would have had without the human effects on climate, which is why hurricanes are becoming wetter due to more water vapor in the warmer atmosphere. The highest storm surge is the most destructive element of tropical cyclones, because rising sea levels are contributing to higher storm surge.