Bonnie briefly became the first major hurricane of the Pacific hurricane season on Tuesday after tearing across Central America as a tropical storm over the weekend, bringing heavy rain and causing several deaths.
It is rare for a hurricane to jump from the Atlantic to the Pacific, said Maria Torres, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center. The last time it happened was Hurricane Otto in 2016.
As of early Wednesday, Bonnie was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane with winds at 100 m.p.h., the Hurricane Center said. It was about 355 miles south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, moving west at 14 m.p.h.
The storm poses no threat to land, and meteorologists expect it to weaken further as it drifts deeper into the Pacific Ocean through the week. It was, however, generating swells that would affect portions of the coast of southwestern Mexico over the next day.
Bonnie became the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season on Friday before making landfall that night in southeastern Nicaragua, where tropical storm warnings were in effect.
The storm brought heavy rainfall to Central America, raising the threat of flash flooding and mudslides, as well as causing at least four deaths in Nicaragua and at least one in El Salvador, according to the BBC.
A storm is given a name after it reaches wind speeds of at least 39 m.p.h., yet days before Bonnie reached that point, it brought heavy rain to the Caribbean region along with the risk of some life-threatening conditions.
Hours after Bonnie made landfall in Nicaragua, and back in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Colin formed just off the coast of South Carolina. The storm, something of a surprise, doused the Carolinas and damped outdoor activities over the long Independence Day 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 comes true, 2022 would be the seventh consecutive year with an above-normal season.
This year, meteorologists predict 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 those are forecast to strengthen into major hurricanes, classified as Category 3 storms with winds of at least 111 m.p.h.
Last year, there were 21 named storms, after a record-breaking 30 in 2020. For the past two years, meteorologists have exhausted the list of names used to identify storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, an occurrence that had happened only one other time, in 2005.
The links between hurricanes and climate change have become clearer with each passing year. Data shows that hurricanes have become stronger worldwide during the past four decades. 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.
Hurricanes are also becoming wetter because of more water vapor in the warmer atmosphere; scientists have suggested storms like Hurricane Harvey in 2017 produced far more rain than they would have without the human effects on climate. Also, rising sea levels are contributing to higher storm surge — the most destructive element of tropical cyclones.
