Hurricane Orlene gained strength on Sunday, reaching Category 4 on its way to Mexico’s Pacific coast, where it is expected to make landfall Monday night, the United States’ National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
“Extremely hazardous Category 4 Hurricane Orlene proceeding north,” the NHC said in its 9 a.m. ET report. At that time, the hurricane was 170 kilometers southwest of Cabo Corrientes in the state of Jalisco (West) and 250 kilometers south of the Marias Islands.
The NHC’s predicted trajectory “should pass near or over the Marias Islands (in the state of Nayarit) by the center of Orlene tonight or Monday morning and reach the coast of mainland Mexico by Monday evening,” the NHC (National Hurricane Center) added. added ).
For its part, Mexico’s National Water Commission (Conagua) estimated that the meteor would weaken and make landfall Tuesday as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane.
The NHC warned of “significant tidal storm wind impacts” in the likely impact area.
“Its cloud bands will cause intense and torrential rains (from 150 to 250 mm) in the areas of Nayarit (which includes the Marías Islands) and Jalisco; very heavy (from 75 to 150 mm) in Colima (west) and Sinaloa ( Northwest )” reported Conagua.
Its circulation will generate wind gusts of 90 to 110 km/h and waves 3 to 5 meters high on the coasts of Nayarit and Jalisco, Conagua added, urging residents of risk areas to seek shelter in makeshift shelters.
The Secretary of the Navy, in turn, closed the ports of Nayarit and Jalisco.
Authorities remain vigilant about the development of the meteor to assess the evacuation of tourists from Mexican resorts to makeshift shelters, Víctor Hugo Roldán, director of Jalisco’s civil defense, told the press.
Tropical cyclones hit Mexico on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts each year, usually between May and November.
In October 1997, Hurricane Paulina hit the Pacific coast of Mexico as a Category 4 hurricane, killing more than 200 people.
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