Farther south, meanwhile, Mexican officials reported late Monday that there had been 12 deaths related to heavy rains from Tropical Storm Vicente.
Willa briefly reached Category 5 strength, then weakened a bit to Category 3 on Tuesday. But the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned that it still was likely to bring "life-threatening storm surge, wind and rainfall" to parts of west-central and southwestern Mexico.
Workers taped up windows in hotels and officials ordered schools closed in a low-lying region where towns sit amid farmland tucked between the sea and lagoons. A decree of "extraordinary emergency" was issued for 19 municipalities in Nayarit and Sinaloa states, the federal Interior Department announced.
Officials said 7,000 to 8,000 people were being evacuated from low-lying areas, mostly in Sinaloa state.
00:00
![]()
01:06
00:00
The hurricane was expected to first pass over or near the Islas Marias, a group of islands about 60 miles offshore that include a nature preserve and a federal prison. Forecasters said Willa would then blow ashore in late afternoon somewhere along a 140-mile stretch from the resort city of Mazatlan to San Blas.
Enrique Moreno, mayor of Escuinapa, a municipality of about 60,000 people lying on Willa's potential track, said officials were trying to evacuate everybody in the seaside village of Teacapan. He estimated 3,000 were affected but he expected some would try to stay.
"The people don't want to evacuate, but it's for their security," he said.
About 60 miles up the coast in Mazatlan, with a metropolitan-area population of about 500,000, Mayor Jose Joel Boucieguez said officials prepared shelters and were closely monitoring low-lying areas. Mazatlan is a popular vacation spot and home to a large number of American and Canadian expatriates.
Late Monday, Willa was centered about 85 miles southwest of the Islas Marias and 195 miles south-southwest of Mazatlan. It was moving north at 9 mph, but was forecast to make a turn to the northeast during the night.
Hurricane-force winds extended 35 miles from the storm's core, and tropical storm-force winds were up to 125 miles out.
The U.S. hurricane center warned that Willa could bring 6 to 12 inches of rain - with up to 18 inches in some places - to parts of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa states, with flash flooding and landslides possible in mountainous areas.
Farther to the south, a weakening Tropical Storm Vicente was expected to dissipate soon, but it still caused heavy rainfall that caused dangerous flooding in southern and southwestern Mexico.
Officials in Oaxaca state said seven adults and five children had lost their lives in drownings or mudslides.
Meteorologist Travis Herzog says we won't get any of the strong winds from Willa, but we will get the rains.
Our latest computer models forecast the moisture to move into Texas and produce potentially heavy rain, especially on Wednesday.
The rain will start Monday night, with a sloppy Tuesday morning commute in the forecast. Travis says we may catch some breaks in the rain late Tuesday, but Wednesday is looking very wet and stormy across Houston and most of Texas.
Travis says 2-3" of rain is likely between now and Thursday morning, with some spots picking up 4-6" of rain. Minor street flooding is possible. Bayous, creeks, and rivers are also expected to rise.
While hurricane season runs until the end of November, the Texas hurricane season normally ends by mid-October as the strong cold fronts cool off the Gulf waters, pushing storms away from us. This is the time of year we look to the Pacific Ocean for tropical storms and hurricanes to send their moisture across Mexico and into Texas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://abc13.com/weather/hurricane-willa-track-storm-strengthens-to-category-5/3548191/
posted by Ciela Marie Acala
No comments:
Post a Comment