Hurricane Rachel moves on!
Mexico City, Oct 1 (EFE).-
Hurricane Rachel reached Category 3 on Thursday after intensifying “rapidly” as it moved off the Mexican Pacific coast, according to Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (SMN).
At 3:00 pm local time, the storm’s center was 390 kilometers south of Cabo San Lucas, in Baja California Sur, and 415 kilometers (257 mi) west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, in Jalisco.
Rachel had maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour (121 mi/h), with gusts of 240 kilometers per hour (149 mi/h), and was moving west-northwest at six kilometers per hour (3.7 mi/h), according to the SMN report.
The storm reached Category 2 status in the early morning, nearly a day after becoming a Category 1 hurricane.
Rachel formed as a tropical storm off Mexico´s southern coast and has gained strength as it moves across the Pacific.
“Rachel has rapidly intensified into a Category 3 hurricane,” the agency stated, while warning of heavy rainfall and waves up to 4 meters high.
The storm is expected to bring 15 to 150 millimeters (0.59 to 5.91 inches) of rain to Baja California Sur and Sinaloa, and very heavy rainfall of 50 to 75 millimeters (1.97 to 2.95 inches) to Nayarit and Jalisco.
It will also bring sustained winds of 40 to 50 kilometers per hour (24 to 31 mi/h) with gusts of 60 to 70 kilometers per hour (37 to 43 mi/h) along the coast of Baja California Sur, and winds of 20 to 30 kilometers per hour (12 to 13 mi/h) with gusts of 40 to 60 kilometers per hour (24 to 37 mi/h) along the coasts of Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco.
The SMN warned that rainfall could cause landslides, rising river and stream levels, overflows, and flooding in low-lying areas of the aforementioned states, and urged the public to remain alert to warnings from the authorities.
The weather system is moving along Mexico’s western coast, which was recently affected by Hurricane Polo, which remained a Category 5 storm for more than 48 non-consecutive hours before making landfall twice, first in Baja California Sur and then in Sonora.
For the 2026 season, Mexico forecasts 18 to 21 named cyclones in the Pacific, of which between four and five could be major hurricanes. EFE
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