Tropical storm Eta forms in the Caribbean and threatens Central America

(CNN) -

Tropical Depression 29 in the Caribbean has strengthened and is now Tropical Storm Eta.

Eta is the 28th named storm of the 2020 active hurricane season and ties the record for the number of named storms in a single season set in 2005.

The storm has sustained winds of 40 mph with stronger gusts and is moving west at 15 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

It is estimated to make landfall in Nicaragua early Tuesday.

A suitable environment ahead of Eta could allow it to quickly strengthen, intensifying into a strong Category 1 hurricane before making landfall.

The system's heavy rains can lead to flash flooding and river flooding in parts of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Central America.

This is the first time the name Eta has been used for a storm.

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The storms are named in alphabetical order, excluding names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y, or Z. In the event that a season is exceptionally busy and there are more than 21 named storms in a season, use the Greek alphabet.

Although 2005 had the same number of named storms, that year it fell short of the Eta name because the NHC increased the season total to 28 after the season ended when it was decided that a storm should have been named but was not. according to Tyler Maudlin, a CNN meteorologist.

So Eta never technically declared that season.

Alerts in Central America by Eta

On Saturday, the Government of Nicaragua decreed this Saturday a Green Alert throughout the national territory and a Yellow Alert in the Caribbean region and northern departments due to the formation of Tropical Depression 29, which later became Tropical Storm Eta.

El Salvador, for its part, on Saturday raised the cocking alert throughout the territory due to the possible impact of the storm.

CNN's Pedram Javaheri and Virginia Langmaid contributed to this report.

El Salvador Nicaragua Tropical storm