Hurricane Irma has already caused serious damages in Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Barthelemy and St. Martin, and hurricane conditions are spreading over portions of Puerto Rico.

The NWS National Hurricane Center has confirmed that the potentially catastrophic category 5 hurricane will present a hazard to Puerto Rico tonight, the northern coast of Hispaniola on Thursday and the Turks and Caicos and southeastern and central Bahamas Thursday and Friday. Cuba and Florida are also likely to be affected in the next 48 hours, although the latest reports indicate that Irma was moving north faster than expected and therefore Cuba might be out of its path.

Regarding this alert, the Costa Rica Meteorological Institute has confirmed that if Irma continues with this path it will not have a direct impact over Costa Rica as it is currently over 2,000 kilometers away, it might, however, depending on its trajectory and intensity have some indirect effects over Costa Rica the moment it passes closer to Cuba.

On the other hand, Hurricane Katia is forming in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and a hurricane watch has been issued for the coast of Mexico from Tuxpan to Laguna Verde; the tropical storm Jose also has strengthened quickly and has now become a hurricane, regarding this phenomenon the NHC stated: “Additional strengthening is forecast, and Jose could be near major hurricane strength on Friday. There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect. Interests in the Leeward Islands should monitor the progress of Jose”.

For the time being none of these two newely formed hurricanes represent any direct or indirect threat to Costa Rican territory.