Tropical Storm Cristina threatens Guatemala - El Salvador with 12 inches of rain
Tropical Storm Cristina is drifting off the coast of Nicaragua and is expected to bring several days of heavy rain to Central America, with guatemala - el salvador among the countries in the forecast path. The storm was named Monday afternoon about 90 miles west-southwest of Managua, Nicaragua, after strengthening from Tropical Depression Three-E.
Nicaragua and El Salvador warnings
At the time of the advisory, Cristina had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was moving northeast at 3 mph. The storm was about 100 miles west-northwest of Managua, Nicaragua, and was expected to meander along the Central American coast through the week before gradually turning northwestward and weakening by midweek.
The National Hurricane Center said Cristina could bring heavy rain and life-threatening flash flooding to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala through midweek. Nicaragua and El Salvador issued Tropical Storm Warnings, putting those two countries on the most immediate alert.
Rain totals across Central America
Forecasters expected widespread rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches through midweek, with localized amounts up to 12 inches. For communities along low-lying ground and river valleys, that range is the part to watch, because the storm is expected to linger rather than move quickly away from the region.
Cristina is also the first tropical threat of 2026 mentioned in the source, and the basin’s season is near its usual starting point: the first named storm in the East Pacific typically forms around June 10. That puts the current storm in line with the region’s normal early-season window, even as its impacts now stretch across five countries.
Boris in southern Mexico
Tuesday morning also brought the end of Tropical Storm Boris, which officially dissipated over southern Mexico after becoming a tropical storm in the Eastern Pacific early Monday with winds of 40 mph. Boris weakened as it moved ashore later that evening, but its remnants could still produce flash flooding and an additional 1 to 4 inches of rain across Guerrero and Oaxaca.
For residents in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, the immediate concern is the rainfall already in the forecast, not the storm’s peak wind speed. The next step is the warning period itself: Cristina is expected to keep affecting the coast through midweek before gradually weakening, and the heaviest totals remain possible where the storm slows or stalls near land.
