Trudy weakens to tropical storm, veers away from Mexico

Trudy weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds near 95 km/h early Monday, Oct. 19, and is moving west, away from Mexico’s Pacific coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The drop is steep. Trudy had been a major Category 3 hurricane late last week and was still a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 130 km/h (80 mph) on Sunday night, CBS News and The Associated Press reported.

In its Advisory 24, issued at 2 a.m. MST Monday (0900 UTC), the NHC said the centre was about 250 km west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, in Jalisco state, near 19.7 N, 108.0 W. It was moving west at about 9 km/h, with a minimum central pressure of 999 millibars. Tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 110 km from the centre.

The centre said Trudy was “rapidly weakening” and forecast it to become a post-tropical cyclone by Monday night. It expected the storm to turn gradually northwest on Tuesday. No watches or warnings were in effect for Mexico.

The danger has not fully passed. The NHC said swells from Trudy would affect the coast of southwestern and west-central Mexico through Monday and were likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents.

Rain was the larger concern over the weekend. CBS News, citing the NHC, reported forecast totals of 100 to 200 millimetres through the weekend, with isolated amounts near 300 millimetres, along and near the coast of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco. The centre warned of potentially life-threatening flooding and mudslides in steep terrain, and said the ground was already saturated from earlier Pacific storms. Mexico’s navy warned of high waves, rising rivers, and flooding and landslides in vulnerable areas, CBS reported.

Authorities in Colima said the risk remained low but warned that heavy rain could still cause damage, according to the report. None of the sources reviewed by Canada News Media gave a figure for deaths, damage or evacuations from Trudy. That makes this a developing story.

Trudy is the latest in a run of Pacific storms to threaten the region. Canada News Media reported on Saturday that it had strengthened to 155 km/h as it approached Manzanillo. Earlier this month, Simon and Rachel killed at least two people in Mexico, with 10 missing.

For Canadians, Global Affairs Canada had told travellers to avoid non-essential travel on part of the west-central coast because of the storm. Canadians in the region should check travel.gc.ca for the current advisory, confirm flights with their airline and follow local authorities. The NHC said it would issue its next complete advisory at 8 a.m. MST Monday.

Via CBS News/The Associated Press and the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

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