Accuweather reported that Hurricane Bonnie has strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane.
More specifically, it has sustained winds of 96-110 mph, and as of July 3 at 10 p.m. CDT Sunday, Bonnie strengthened over East Pacific waters, west of Nicaragua.
Hurricane Bonnie originally formed in the southwestern Caribbean Sea, passed through Central America and emerged into the East Pacific Ocean within the span of 24 hours.
Accuweather reported that Bonnie has now become the third hurricane of the season in the basin. July 3, Hurricane Bonnie had sustained wind speeds of 80 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 74-95 mph.
Bonnie is the second named storm of the Atlantic season and has become the eastern Pacific Ocean's first major hurricane, reported Accuweather.
Bonnie was deemed a Category 3 major hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 111-129 mph for several hours on July 5 and eventually the National Hurricane Center (NHC) found Bonnie to have sustained winds of 115 mph, changing categories as a result (Category 2).
As of 9 a.m. MDT July 6, Bonnie had maximum sustained wind speeds of 105 mph, tracking to the west at 12 mph, and about 365 miles southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico.
Bonnie is still considered Category 2 but Accuweather reports that it is expected that there will be an overall reduction in wind speed as Bonnie moves northwestward into cooler waters.
"Despite quickly attaining major hurricane status, the system will encounter progressively cooler waters during the latter part of this week, which will ultimately lead to weakening," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
The National Hurricane Center first designated Bonnie as Potential Tropical Cyclone Two on June 27, formed at 8.6 latitude north, about 250 miles north of French New Guinea. It has since become one of the southernmost tropical cyclones ever tracked.
"According to the NOAA Hurricane Historical Tracks Archive, the only storm that formed farther south was Tropical Storm Bret that formed as a tropical depression at a mere 7.5 degrees north latitude on June 18, 2017, then made landfall as a tropical storm in southern Trinidad on June 20 of that year," Ferrell said, reported Accuweather.
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