The latest set of 12am CST (6Z) model runs are in excellent agreement with Richard's track, taking the enter of the storm inland over Belize between 4pm - 9pm CST tonight. The latest radar animations from the Belize radar indicate that Belize City will experience a portion of the eyewall of Richard, and residents of Belize City can expect a 2 - 4 hour period of hurricane force winds to begin between 4pm - 6pm CST this evening. Tropical storm force winds of 39+ mph should arrive at the coast between 2pm - 4pm CST this afternoon. A good way to estimate these arrival times is using the wundermap with the "hurricane" layer turned on and the "wind radius" and "forecast" boxes checked. Richard is in a very favorable environment for intensification, with low wind shear between 5 - 10 knots, and warm water temperatures of 29 - 29.5°C. Given these conditions, and the fact that the eyewall is is now fully formed, Richard will probably undergo a period of rapid intensification that could take it to Category 2 strength with 100 mph winds at landfall this evening. Once inland, Richard's small size and relatively slow forward speed of 5 - 10 mph on Monday will lead to substantial weakening as it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula.
People are boarding up their homes and businesses and preparing for Hurricane Richard's landfall this afternoon.
Conditions have started to deteriorate
Premium Wines and Spirits at Fido's all boarded up
Most people are boarding up
Elvi's Kitchen all boarded up, some tourist wandering around town
Private homes shuttered up
Beach homes protected with sand bags
Resident boarding up with any pieces of lumber they find
Waves at Boca del Rio Area
Waves at Wet Willy's Dock
Wow ... hopefully this will pass though with minimal damages. I'm suppose to be driving from Brownsville to BZ next Monday.
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