Southern Mexico on alert in the face of the advance of Category 2 Hurricane Otis

He Hurricane Otis strengthened this Tuesday category 2just hours after becoming category 1, during its advance through the Pacific to the southern states of Mexicowhere it would make landfall this Wednesday, according to the National Meteorological Service (SMN).

“He Hurricane Otis It has rapidly intensified to category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and may reach category 3 in the next few hours. Its center is located off the coast of Guerrero“, warned the SMN.

Otis, which emerged on Saturday as a tropical depression, was last recorded 170 kilometers south-southwest of Punta Maldonado and 220 kilometers north of Punta Maldonado. south-southeast of Acapulco, Guerreroone of the main tourist destinations in the country.

The phenomenon presents maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour, gusts of 215 kilometers per hour and a movement towards the north-northwest at 11 kilometers per hour, according to the agency. National Water Commission (Conagua).

Due to its circulation, the SMN predicted “torrential” rains, of 150 to 250 millimeters, in Warrior“intense” in Oaxacaand “strong” in the Mexico state, Morelos and Pueblaas well as intervals of showers in Mexico City and Michoacán.

Likewise, wind gusts of 120 to 150 kilometers per hour and waves of 5 to 7 meters high are expected on the coasts of Guerrero and Oaxaca.

“The aforementioned rainfall, which will be with electric shocks, could generate landslides, an increase in the levels of rivers and streams, as well as overflows and flooding in areas of the mentioned states,” the SMN warned.

This cyclone would make landfall just days after Norma hit western Mexico, leaving three dead in the state of Sinaloa.

Otis is the fifteenth named cyclone of this season in the Pacific, where Adrian, Beatriz, Calvin, Dora, Eugene, Fernanda, Greg, Hilary, Irwin, Jova, Kenneth, Lidia, Max and Norma formed before.

Of them, the most damaging has been Hilary, which in August left four dead in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur and Sinaloa, all in northern Mexico.

While the double scourge of cyclones Lidia and Max left five dead in total in the second week of October, one in Nayarit, two in Jalisco and two in Guerrero.

The Government of Mexico predicted in May the formation of up to 38 named cyclones in the 2023 season, of which five could hit the country.

Keep reading:

– Hurricane Norma intensifies to category 4 and keeps several states in the Mexican Pacific on alert
– Tropical storm “Max” and hurricane “Lidia” now add 5 deaths in Mexico
– Cyclones Lidia and Max leave floods, overflows and three deaths in Mexico