Tropical Storm Bonnie forms in Caribbean ahead of Friday night landfall in Central America

Tropical Storm Bonnie has formed in the southwestern Caribbean Sea as it heads for a Friday night landfall in Central America.

Data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated that the disturbance formerly known as Potential Tropical Cyclone Two had finally organized into a tropical storm over the southwestern Caribbean Sea as of Friday morning.

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The tropical storm currently has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It's located more than 200 miles east of Bluefields, Nicaragua, and is racing westward at about 20 mph.

Bonnie is predicted to intensify on Friday before it slams into the coast of southern Nicaragua or northern Costa Rica on Friday night.

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A Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect for the island of San Andrés, Colombia, as well as from Limón, Costa Rica, northward to Sandy Bay Sirpi, Nicaragua.

Additionally, a Hurricane Watch has been issued for the southeastern coast of Nicaragua, while a Tropical Storm Watch has been issued along portions of the Pacific coasts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

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Islands in the southwestern Caribbean Sea have already reported wind gusts well over tropical-storm force (40-plus mph).

Bonnie is expected to spread high winds and heavy rain across southern Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica on Friday night before emerging over the Eastern Pacific on Saturday.

It could then become a hurricane early next week as it moves northwestward near or off the Pacific coast of Mexico.

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(MyFoxHurricane.com)

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Forecasters are also monitoring a tropical disturbance, dubbed Invest 95L, that's expected to bring heavy rain to portions of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana into the start of the Fourth of July weekend.

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