Hurricane Trudy has brought substantial rain and strong winds to sections of Mexico’s Pacific coast, affecting areas already targeted by Hurricane Simon the week prior. The National Hurricane Center, based in Miami, cautioned that hurricane and tropical storm conditions could emerge in areas under weather alerts this Sunday morning and afternoon. It has advised residents in coastal regions of Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco to ready themselves for potentially life-threatening floods and landslides attributed to the anticipated rain.
A hurricane warning is still active from Manzanillo in Colima state to Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco. As detailed in the latest update from the hurricane center, which was released in the early hours of Sunday, Trudy has maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, classifying it as a Category 2 hurricane. Although it had intensified into a significant Category 3 hurricane as it approached Mexico late last week, it has since diminished. Currently, Trudy is approximately 135 miles west-southwest of Manzanillo, advancing northwest at 10 mph.
The storm’s center is predicted to persist near the Mexican coast through Sunday evening before progressing south of the Baja California Peninsula. Meanwhile, a tropical storm warning remains valid for Las Islas Marias, although a warning for the coast stretching from east of Punta San Telmo to Lázaro Cárdenas has been rescinded.
The Mexican Navy has urged mariners and coastal inhabitants to remain exceedingly vigilant due to the presence of elevated waves, intense rainfall, and the danger of rising rivers, flooding, and landslides in susceptible areas. Authorities in Colima state assert that risks stay modest, yet they have warned that heavy precipitation might cause harm due to ground saturation from persistent storms along the Pacific coastline.
Trudy is anticipated to produce 4 to 8 inches of rain throughout the weekend, with isolated totals reaching approximately 12 inches along and near the coast in Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco. The hurricane center emphasizes that areas with steep topographies are particularly liable to experience serious flooding and mudslides.
Other Pacific storms
In another part of the Pacific, Typhoon Champi passed Guam as a substantial super typhoon with powerful winds sufficient to be classified as Category 4. It was moving away from the island on Sunday after moving near Guam’s southern tip with sustained winds of 150 mph.
By Sunday afternoon local time, Champi was 200 miles west of Guam, proceeding westward at 14 mph, as reported by the National Weather Service. The storm may intensify into a Category 5 super typhoon early on Monday, local time. Both Guam and Rota remain under a typhoon warning, while the tropical storm warning and typhoon watch for Tinian and Saipan have been annulled.
The governors of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands petitioned for emergency disaster declarations on Friday. On Saturday, President Trump sanctioned an emergency declaration for Guam, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to oversee all federal disaster relief operations. FEMA disclosed that federal disaster aid is accessible for Guam to bolster local reaction efforts subsequent to Typhoon Champi.
Airports, harbors, and some health facilities in the territories have been shut down. According to Saturday updates from FEMA, supplies might not arrive at the islands for three to five days. The territories are still in the process of recovering from super typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi, which struck in April and July respectively.