After this Saturday morning tropical storm “Rick” evolved into a category 1 hurricane on the shores of the Mexican Pacific, the National Meteorological Service (SMN) warned that during the early hours of this Sunday it will intensify to a category 2 hurricane on the scale Saffir-Simpson and possibly increasing over time.
This was noted in a statement published at 10:05 p.m. on the Twitter account of the National Water Commission (Conagua):
“The intensity forecast indicates that, on Sunday afternoon or evening, Rick could be a major category hurricane, since its wind speeds are expected to be equivalent to category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale”
Currently, its center is located approximately 270 kilometers (km) south of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, and 290 km south of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán. It has maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (km / h), gusts of 165 km / h, and is moving north-northwest at 7 km / h.
Its cloud bands will cause torrential rains (150 to 250 millimeters) in Guerrero and Oaxaca in the next few hours; very heavy rains (from 50 to 75 mm) in Michoacán, Morelos and Puebla; Wind gusts of 60 to 70 km / h and waves of 2 to 4 meters high on the coasts of Guerrero and Michoacán.
These rains can cause landslides, increase in the levels of rivers and streams, and overflows and floods in low-lying areas, for which the SMN urges the general population and maritime navigation to take extreme precautions in the areas of the aforementioned states, as well how to attend to the recommendations issued by the authorities of the National Civil Protection System in each entity.
In this sense, it is expected to reach category 3 this Sunday and weaken to category 2 on Monday, the same day that it could make landfall in the limits of the states of Jalisco and Michoacán.
It will then head north, although it will lose strength and degrade to a tropical depression while on land.
More information in development.