Hurricane Felix has been causing havoc across the Caribbean Sea and is now headed towards Honduras and Nicaragua.  Lucky for us, Costa Rica is supposedly going to be spared from this hurricane, but the country is going to be indirectly affected.

On Saturday, a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean formed and it soon picked up speed and became Hurricane Felix.  Over the course of just one day it strengthened from a category 1 all the way to a 4 and by Sunday night it had picked up enough speed and strength to become a maximum category 5 over the Caribbean Sea.

The hurricane is moving westward at 21 miles per hour and has no intentions of slowing down according to the National Hurricane Center. By Tuesday the hurricane center will hit northeastern Nicaragua and northwestern Honduras and then head up north to Belize Wednesday. 

Although this hurricane is very powerful, it has a small wind field, according to the National Hurricane Center.  The force winds extend up to 30 miles from the center and have tropical storm force winds that extend up to 115 miles. 

With the route that the hurricane is taking now,  it seems that it will not hit Costa Rica at all but the effects will be felt.  According to the Institito Meterorologico Nacional, Costa Rica is expected to receive heavy rain and strong winds starting Monday afternoon and continuing into the night.  The indirect effects of Felix are to be felt in the Pacific South and Central and the Central Valley (San Jose).  However, hurricanes can change direction in a matter of minutes so we can not completely dismiss it yet.

This has not been the first heavy rainfall of the season. In fact a number of bridges, highways, and homes have already been affected.  Landslides have taken over highways and bridges have been damaged causing commuters daily headaches.  Traffic officials are asking the public to have patience as the rain may affect routes all over the country.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on September 3rd, 2007