(CNN Español) – Mexico’s National Water Commission (Conagua) reported on Saturday in A release That at dawn Nora had intensified to the level of a first-class hurricane.
“The National Weather Service (SMN) of the National Water Commission (Conagua), in coordination with the Miami National Hurricane Center, maintains an active hurricane protection area from Manzanillo, Colima, to San Blas, Nayarit; monitoring the area for hurricane effects from Manzanillo, Colima, to Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, and from San Blas, Nayarit, to Mazatlán, Sinaloa, as well as a protective zone for the effects of tropical storms from Técpan de Galeana, Guerrero, to Manzanillo, Colima,” the statement details.
Konagwa also indicated that they expected this on Saturday high rain in Colima, Jalisco and Michoacán, and intense in Guerrero. Rain may be accompanied by thunderstorms, strong winds, and the possibility of hail.
Report from the US National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Nora formed earlier this week and is now a Category 1 storm of 128 km/h located 140 miles south of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, according to an 11 a.m. (Miami time) update from Hurricane Central National. “the conditions [se están] deteriorates on the coasts of Colima and Jalisco,” says the Hurricane Center (NHC, for its English acronym).
The storm could get a little stronger before approaching the Mexican coast, or it could make landfall tonight. There is a hurricane warning in effect from Manzanillo to San Blas and there are tropical storm warnings from southern Manzanillo to Lazaro Cardenas and north San Blas to Altata in Mexico.
Winds are likely to cause damage near shore in this storm, but heavy rain and flash floods are expected to be the biggest threats. Precipitation is expected from 203 to 304 mm in the area to be followed by Nora, with a total of 508 mm. There will also be a storm and big waves along the shoreline and near where the storm could make landfall.
It will be a hurricane until Tuesday
The forecast track has Nora moving parallel along the west coast of Mexico this weekend or moving slightly up the coast. Then, starting Monday, the center of the storm is expected to pass over the Gulf of California, between Baja California and mainland Mexico.
The NHC predicts Nora will remain a hurricane through Tuesday morning, based on the latest forecast, but a possible interaction with the ground makes this intensity forecast uncertain. At this point, the storm’s forward speed can slow, allowing heavy rainfall totals to rise.
By the end of next week, Nora will weaken and turn into a tropical storm once it makes landfall in northwest mainland Mexico. Its humidity is expected to reach the southwestern United States by the end of next week, increasing the likelihood of rain in the region.