Earl, which is moving in the Caribbean toward Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, has been upgraded from a tropical storm to hurricane, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
The Category 1 storm has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
The storm is about 150 miles east of Belize City and is moving west at 14 mph.
Earl is expected to make landfall in Belize overnight.
A hurricane warning is in place from Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico, south to the Belize-Guatemala border, as well as the Bay Islands in Honduras.
Over a foot of rain is possible and will bring the threat of flooding and landslides in higher terrain.
Shore areas close to the center of the storm will experience 4 to 6 feet of storm surge.
Developing story – more to come