(CNN) -
Hurricane Eta has intensified rapidly overnight in the southwestern Caribbean Sea and is expected to be bordering on category 2 to category 3 when it makes landfall in Nicaragua on Tuesday morning.
There is a hurricane watch for the entire coast of Nicaragua.
A tropical storm warning is also in effect for the northeast coast of Honduras.
Hurricane Eta will slow significantly after making landfall, leading to catastrophic rains, life-threatening flash floods, and river flooding across much of Central America.
The greatest threat of flooding is anticipated in parts of Nicaragua and Honduras, where up to 90 cm of rain could fall.
Guatemala, Belize, Panama and Costa Rica could also receive more than 12 inches of rain during the next few days due to the storm.
Hurricane #Eta Advisory 7A: Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter Aircraft Finds Eta Quickly Strengthening.
Life-Threatening Storm Surge, Damaging Winds, Flash Flooding, And Landslides Expected Across Portions of Central America.
https://t.co/VqHn0u1vgc
- National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) November 2, 2020
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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.
This is the first time the name Eta has been used for a storm.
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 total to 28 after the season ended.
At the time it was decided that a storm should have been named, but it wasn't, according to Tyler Maudlin, a CNN meteorologist.
So technically, Eta never declared that season.