Tropical Storm Beta formed today in the southwestern Caribbean Sea, extending this year's record of named storms in the Atlantic hurricane season and threatening several Central American countries Beta is the season's 23rd tropical storm, the most since record keeping began in 1851. Warnings were issued for the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, and the storm is expected to bring heavy rains to western Panama and Costa Rica. The storm is not expected to threaten the United States, forecasters said. At 1200 GMT, Beta was located 200 kilometers east-southeast of Nicaragua. The storm's maximum sustained winds were near 65 kilometers per hour (kph), and it was moving northwest at 7 kph. The storm is expected to produce 25 to 37 centimeters of rain across western Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, forecasters said.
