Hurricane Otis, which is moving quickly through the Mexican Pacific to impact the state of Guerrero, intensified to category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale and registers sustained winds of 260 kilometers per hour (km/h) and gusts of 315 km/h, the National Meteorological Service (SMN) of Mexico reported on Tuesday night.
Otis suddenly increased its winds and in less than 12 hours it has gone through all 5 categories.
“It is a category 5 hurricane (the maximum) on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale” and It will continue with that force until it makes landfall, probably causing “catastrophic damage,” warned the American National Hurricane Center (NHC). in its report at 05:00 CET on Wednesday.
In its most recent report, the SMN indicated that at 9:00 p.m. (05:00 CET on Wednesday) the center of Otis was located 90 kilometers (km) south-southeast of Acapulco, in Guerrero, and 125 kilometers (km) west -southwest of Punta Maldonado.
12 AM Update: Eyewall of Category 5 Hurricane #Otis moving ashore near Acapulco, Mexico. Maximum winds are estimated to be 165 mph. Otis is forecast to remain a category 5 hurricane through landfall within the next few hours pic.twitter.com/MJ4jjmi0cD
— NHC Eastern Pacific (@NHC_Pacific) October 25, 2023
Destructive winds
The phenomenon registers maximum sustained winds of 260 km/h, gusts of 315 km/h, and moves towards the north-northwest at 15 km/h.
Previously, the National Meteorological Service (SMN) of Mexico predicted that Hurricane Otis will make landfall during the early hours of Wednesday, in the vicinity of Acapulco, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.
“The hurricane is forecast to impact as a category 4 hurricane with winds of 210 to 250 kilometers per hour (km/h) between the municipalities of Técpan de Galeana and Acapulco on Wednesday between 04:00 and 06:00 hours. (12:00 and 14:00 CET),” the SMN coordinator, Alejandra Méndez Girón, reported at a press conference.
He added that the dangerous quadrant of the system will affect the municipalities of Acapulco, Coyuca de Benítez, Benito Juárez, Atoyac de Álvarez, Técpan de Galeana, San Marcos, Florencio Villareal, Petatlán and Zihuatanejo.
NHC update: #Otis continues to intensify now with winds of 270 km/h and gusts that could be reaching 350 km/h. #FuerzaGuerrero pic.twitter.com/Sn0uiyYIU4
— SkyAlert Storm (@SkyAlertStorm) October 25, 2023
Heavy rains predicted
Méndez Girón indicated that the wide circulation of the system “will cause intense rains to occasional torrential rains in Guerrero; and very strong to intense in Oaxaca, reinforcing the probability of intervals of showers with heavy occasional rains in Michoacán, State of Mexico, Morelos, Puebla and Mexico City.”
“Such rains could cause reduced visibility, landslides, flooding or flooding, as well as an increase in the levels of rivers and streams,” he warned.
In addition, Mexican authorities forecast wind gusts of 250 to 270 km/h and waves of 8 to 10 meters high on the coasts of Guerrero and Oaxaca.
Due to these conditions, The head of the SMN said that a prevention zone for the effects of the hurricane is maintained from Punta Maldonado to Zihuatanejo, in the state of Guerrero, as well as a surveillance zone for hurricane effects from Lagunas de Chacahua, in Oaxaca and to Punta Maldonado, in Guerrero.
It will remain on the ground for 48 hours
The head of the Mexican Meteorological Service warned that Otis will remain on the ground, in Guerrero, for 48 hours and called on the general population in the aforementioned states to take extreme precautions due to rain, wind and waves (including maritime navigation) and heed the recommendations issued. by the Civil Protection authorities, in each state.
The cyclone arrives just days after Norma hit western Mexico, leaving three dead in the state of Sinaloa.
Otis is the 15th named cyclone of this season in the Pacific, where Adrian, Beatriz, Calvin, Dora, Eugene, Fernanda, Greg, Hilary, Irwin, Jova, Kenneth, Lidia, Max and Norma were trained.
Keep reading:
- Mexico expects Otis to make landfall early Wednesday morning as a category 4 hurricane
- Southern Mexico on alert in the face of the advance of Category 2 Hurricane Otis
- Storm Norma leaves at least three dead in Mexico, including a child