Canada warns against Mexico coast travel as Trudy nears

The Government of Canada is advising travellers to avoid non-essential travel along Mexico’s west-central Pacific coast as Hurricane Trudy moves toward the shoreline, with the storm’s centre expected near or over land on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026.

The advisory covers the stretch of coast from Punta San Telmo in Michoacán to Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco, which includes the port and resort city of Manzanillo. Travel Advice and Advisories for Mexico, last updated Oct. 16 at 11:30 a.m. ET, described Trudy as an expected major hurricane and warns of heavy rain, violent winds, flash flooding, landslides and possible disruption to transportation, power, water, communications and medical care.

Trudy has been erratic. It strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 195 km/h early Friday, then weakened to Category 1 with winds of 140 km/h by the U.S. National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) 5 p.m. ET advisory, according to a summary of the advisory published by the Rio Times. That is well below the Category 4 peak the centre had forecast a day earlier.

At that advisory the centre was about 365 km southwest of Acapulco and 505 km south-southeast of Manzanillo, moving north-northwest at 7 km/h. The NHC said it expects only a modest strengthening to about 145 km/h by Saturday night, then steady weakening after Sunday.

Mexico’s government has issued a hurricane warning from Manzanillo north to Cabo Corrientes, and a hurricane watch from Manzanillo south to Punta San Telmo. A tropical storm warning covers the coast from Manzanillo south to Zihuatanejo. A tropical storm watch runs from Cabo Corrientes north to San Blas, including Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta, the resort city many Canadians visit.

The NHC forecast 100 to 200 millimetres of rain along the Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco coast, with isolated totals near 380 millimetres, and warned of life-threatening flooding and mudslides on steep terrain. Mexico’s national weather service, known by its Spanish initials SMN, put totals at 200 to 300 millimetres in some areas from Friday to Sunday.

The track remains uncertain. SMN said the closest approach would be about 65 km off the coast of Jalisco and Colima on Sunday, and its coordinator said small shifts in the path could change conditions on shore substantially. No damage or evacuation figures had been confirmed Friday evening.

For Canadians, the storm follows other recent threats to the coast. Hurricane Simon stalled off the coast earlier this week after Simon and Rachel killed at least two people, and WestJet and Air Canada issued storm advisories for travellers on Oct. 9. Canadians booked to the region can check their airline’s travel waiver page and register with the Government of Canada’s Registration of Canadians Abroad service.

The Canada advisory also lists separate, long-standing warnings against non-essential travel in much of Colima and Michoacán and parts of Jalisco because of violence and organized crime, unrelated to the storm. It does not issue a city-specific advisory for Puerto Vallarta.

The NHC’s next full advisory was due at 9 p.m. Mexico Central time Friday. The centre expects Trudy to weaken to a remnant low around Wednesday, Oct. 21. This story is developing and figures may change as new advisories are issued.

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Via the Rio Times, citing the U.S. National Hurricane Center and Mexico’s national weather service. Travel advice from the Government of Canada.