Mexican authorities warned on Sunday of the development of a tropical storm with the possibility of becoming a Category 1 hurricane during the course of Monday that will impact some states in the Mexican Pacific.
Pamela presents sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and moves west-northwest at 30 km/hr.
The tropical storm will generate high waves and rains, on the coasts of Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, in Guerrero, Lázaro Cárdenas, in Michoacán, Manzanillo, in Colima and Puerto Vallarta, in Jalisco over the next 48 hours.
Pamela could bring tropical storm winds, rain, and high waves to Puerto Vallarta, although a landfall in the area isn’t expected. A tropical storm watch has been issued for Nayarit, from San Blas and north to Sinaloa.
READ UPDATE: PUERTO VALLARTA HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE WARNING AREA FOR TROPICAL STORM PAMELA
Méndez Girón predicted that during the afternoon and overnight hours, the storm will intensify to a category 1 hurricane and change its direction of travel towards the coasts of Baja California and Sinaloa.
While on Tuesday night it could increase its intensity to category 2 and it is expected that on Wednesday night or Thursday morning it will make landfall on the coasts of Sinaloa where it will reach category 3. ”It is not ruled out that when it makes landfall intensify to a Category 3 hurricane ″ he pointed out.
Eliseo Malacara, director of emergency management of the General Directorate of Civil Protection, asked the population of the affected states to take extreme precautions, identify the risks and not throw garbage in drains to avoid flood problems.
Likewise, he urged the population to stay informed through official sources and to be protected against the storm.
The recommendations were also extended to navigation to take extreme precautions. Méndez Girón recalled that the hurricane season in Mexico has not yet concluded and pointed out that another cyclone is expected at the end of October and another one in early November.
So far this year there have been five hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, Elsa, Grace, Henri, Ida, and Larry, of which Grace, Ida, and Larry reached the highest category, 3 or more.
While in the Pacific Ocean the cyclones Andrés, Blanca, Carlos, Dolores, Enrique, Felicia, Guillermo, Hilda, Ignacio, Jimena, Kevin, Linda, Marty, Nora and Olaf have formed.
Dolores made landfall in mid-June, killing three.
In mid-August, the rains generated by Grace, which made landfall in the Gulf of Mexico, caused the death of at least 11 people, 8 in the state of Veracruz and 3 in the central state of Puebla, in addition to severe flooding and damage.
The cyclone had impacted days before in the Yucatan peninsula, where it also left floods and power failures, although without fatalities.
Meanwhile, Nora, who made landfall on August 28, left a minor dead in the state of Jalisco and seven disappeared, six of them fishermen from the state of Guerrero.
