Tropical Storm Bonnie forms, heads for Central America

MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Bonnie formed over the Caribbean on Friday as it headed for a quick march across Central America and potential development into a hurricane after reemerging in the Pacific.

The storm poses no threat to Florida.

The National Hurricane Center said that Bonnie is on a track for the general Nicaragua-Costa Rica border region. It was expected to cause significant flooding, with rains of up to 8 inches, and even more in isolated places.

It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was centered about 230 miles east of Bluefields on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast, while moving to the west at 20 mph.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Colombia’s San Andres Island and from Cabo Blanco in Costa Rica northward to Puerto Sandino in Nicaragua.

The Hurricane Center said it was projected to emerge over the Pacific on Saturday and gain force while moving over the Pacific roughly parallel to the coast over the following days.

The fast-moving disturbance has been drenching parts of the Caribbean region since Monday without, until Friday, meeting the criteria for a named tropical storm.

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