Tropical Storm Lisa Projected to Become Hurricane, Make Landfall Wednesday

Tropical Storm Lisa formed on Halloween in the western Caribbean Sea. It's expected to become a category 1 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon, shortly before making landfall.

The National Hurricane Center during its 5 p.m. advisory on Monday stated that TS Lisa has sustained winds of 45 mph and was moving west toward Central America at 14 mph. The storm is expected on Wednesday to slam into a region of Central America from Honduras and up north along the shores of Guatemala, Belize and southern Mexico. The current path has the eyewall making landfall in Belize.

The United States and the Gulf of Mexico will not be affected by Lisa, according to data on the NHC website.

"Hurricane conditions are possible in the Bay Islands of Honduras early Wednesday and along the coast of Belize by Wednesday afternoon, where a Hurricane Watch has been issued," the NHC stated. "Tropical storm conditions are possible in portions of Jamaica, the north coast of Honduras, the Caribbean coast of Guatemala and the southeastern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico."

A dangerous storm surge is expected along the coast of Belize as Lisa makes its way on shore, as well as local flash flooding in nearby countries.

Once a defined tropical system reaches 35 mph, it becomes a tropical storm. It becomes a Category 1 storm when it hits a minimum of 74 mph sustained winds.

Although tropical systems in the Atlantic season have seen a rather dormant season, this storm comes on the heels of Hurricanes Ian and Julia within the last month. Ian crushed Florida on September 28 as a high-level Category 4 storm. It leveled many structures on the barrier islands from Naples to Sarasota, with winds clocking more than 150 mph in some places.

Ian left more than 100 people dead, hundreds injured and hundreds of thousands displaced and without power or running water for at least more than a week.

Ian traversed northeast across Florida, wreaking havoc in Orlando and up through Jacksonville. Ian downgraded into a tropical storm but regained Category 1 strength before it made landfall again in South Carolina.

Julia took a somewhat similar path as Ian's. Both storms began in the Atlantic, about 10-12 degrees north of the equator. Ian took a northward turn once it got into the Caribbean but Julia stayed on a westward path. Julia continued to a landfall as a Category 1 storm in Nicaragua on October 8.

Hurricane season, which begins annually on May 1, officially ends on November 30. There are no other tropical systems in the Atlantic or Pacific basins at the time, according to the hurricane center.