Hurricane Julia bears down on Central America, could bring heavy rain, flooding

Hurricane Julia gained more strength moving westward in the southern Caribbean on Saturday as it bore down on the Colombian islands and Nicaragua. It could also bring heavy rainfall to Southern Mexico early next week. 

Julia was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane Saturday night, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported. The storm was centered about 55 miles east of Columbia's Providencia Island, and 175 miles east of Bluefields, Nicaragua. It was moving west at 17 mph.

A storm is defined as a hurricane when its maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph, according to the National Weather Service.