ORLANDO, Fla. — Hurricane Eta is making landfall in Nicaragua. Life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds, flash flooding and landslides are expected across portions of Central America.
The storm made landfall in the area as a Category 4 hurricane Thursday evening.
4 p.m. update
Channel 9 chief meteorologist Tom Terry said while there are several days to go, the trends in the models keep Eta very close to Florida from the weekend through early next week possibly as a tropical storm.
Category 4 storm making landfall in Nicaragua, forecast to track near Florida this weekend
Hurricane Eta is making landfall now in Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm.
After making landfall, forecasts show it weakening while it moves over land before entering the Caribbean and re-strengthening.
Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for the latest forecast updates.
10 a.m. update
Hurricane Eta inches closer to Nicaragua
Eta continues to inch closer to the coast of northeastern Nicaragua.
The center of Eta is expected to make landfall along the coast of Nicaragua Tuesday.
The Category 4 hurricane is still packing 145 mph winds. It has weakened slightly as it gets closer to land.
5 a.m. update
‘Extremely dangerous’ Category 4 storm nears Nicaragua
Eta is forecast to move father inland over norther Nicaragua through Wednesday morning and across central portions of Honduras by Thursday morning.
The storms sustained winds are at 150 mph. Forecasters said there is a small chance the storm could strengthen before it makes landfall.
Forecasters said Eta will continue to weaken after its center moves inland.
READ: What makes sunrises so beautiful?
The National Weather Center said the storm is “extremely dangerous."
It will begin to weaken after the center moves inland Tuesday morning.
The storm surpassed Delta for the strongest Greek alphabet-named Atlantic hurricane on record.
READ: Busy season! Here are 9 stats for this season, so far