Tropical Storm Nate causes flooding in Costa Rica

(RNN) - The Gulf Coast is bracing for the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Nate, which will likely be a category 1 storm by landfall. 

As of the 4 a.m. CDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Nate was packing maximum-sustained winds of 45 mph as it churned 60 miles east-northeast of Isla Guanaja, Honduras, moving to the north-northwest at 14 mph.

In addition to the tropical storm warning for Honduras and Mexico, portions of the Gulf Coast were under watches and warnings Thursday night.

Nate is expected to bring heavy rainfall, strong winds, rough surf and storm surge to the Gulf Coast, making landfall as a hurricane by early Sunday morning.

A storm surge watch is in effect from Morgan City, LA, east to the Alabama-Mississippi state line, including the northern and western coasts of Lake Ponchartrain. That same area is under a hurricane watch, along with the New Orleans metro area and Lake Maurepas. A tropical storm watch is in effect from the Mississippi-Alabama state line to the Okaloosa-Walton County line in Florida and from west of Morgan City, LA, to Intracostal City, LA.

Forecasters said the tropical storm should keep moving to the north-northwest quickly for the next two days, sandwiched as it is between a cyclonic gyre in Central America and a subtropical ridge over the western Atlantic. After that, it will swing toward the northeast, influenced by a mid-latitude westerly flow.

Nate has been blamed for 22 deaths in Central America, the Associated Press said on Thursday.  The center is expected to approach the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula late Friday.

The tropical storm comes on the heels of three destructive and deadly hurricanes in one of the worst hurricane seasons in recent years.

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have left more than 170 people dead and caused billions in damage to Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Barbuda and other Caribbean islands.

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