The 31 tropical depression of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season developed in the Central Caribbean Sea today
The US National Hurricane Centre said At 10am EST, the centre of Tropical Depression 31 was located over the central Caribbean Sea about 310 miles (500 km) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.
It's moving toward the west-southwest near seven mph (11 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue through early Saturday.
A westward to west-north-westward motion at a slightly faster forward speed is expected to begin by late Saturday and continue through early Monday.
On the forecast track, the system will move across the central Caribbean Sea during the next day or so, and approach the coasts of Nicaragua and north-eastern Honduras late Sunday and Monday.
The depression has maximum sustained winds that are near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts.
The depression is forecast to strengthen into a tropical storm later today or tonight.
When that occurs, it will be named "Iota".
TD 31 is expected to produce four to eight inches of rain, with local 12 inch totals, across portions of northern Columbia, Panama and Costa Rica.
Across Jamaica and southern Haiti, two to four inches are expected, with local amounts up to six inches.
Across remaining sections of Central America, the system has the potential to produce 20 to 30 inches of rain with a focus across northern Nicaragua and Honduras.
This rainfall would lead to significant, life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding, along with landslides in areas of higher terrain.