Hurricane Trudy nears Mexico’s Pacific Coast, threatening heavy rain

Hurricane Trudy sustained its intensity as it advanced toward Mexico’s western coast on Saturday, with forecasters warning it could deepen further before beginning to weaken on Sunday.

On Saturday, the US National Hurricane Center said Trudy was about 190 miles south-southeast of Manzanillo early in the day with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.

The NHC said that hurricane conditions are anticipated in the warning sea area on Saturday night, while tropical storm conditions are expected to sweep across the region today. Crucially, hurricane conditions are also possible in areas under a hurricane watch.

Trudy is projected to deliver four to eight inches of rainfall with localized amounts reaching near 15 inches across parts of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco through the weekend, elevating the dangers of catastrophic floods and landslides in mountainous areas.

The center said outer rain bands could produce two to four inches of rain with isolated totals of about six inches in Guerrero and Nayarit where scattered flash flooding is possible. Warnings have been issued of possible coastal flooding from storm surge in areas exposed to onshore winds.

Furthermore, the NHC clarified that swells generated by Trudy were already affecting parts of Mexico’s southwestern coast and are projected to move northward toward the country’s west-central coast through the weekend, creating hazardous surf and strong rip current conditions.