Hurricane Willa has grown rapidly into an “extremely dangerous” near-Category 5 storm in the eastern Pacific, on a path to smash into Mexico’s western coast between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta in the coming days.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Monday that Willa could “produce life-threatening storm surge, wind and rainfall over portions of southwestern and west-central Mexico beginning on Tuesday.” It predicted that Willa could become a Category 5 hurricane later Monday, generating life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions.
A hurricane warning was posted for Mexico’s western coast between San Blas and Mazatlan, including Las Islas Marias. Tropical storm warnings ranged from Playa Perula north to San Blas and from Mazatlan north to Bahia Tempehuaya. The center said Willa is expected make landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
By early Monday, Willa had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph (249 kph) and was centered about 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of Las Islas Marias and 175 miles (280 kilometers) south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes. It was moving north at 7 mph (11 kph).
Hurricane force winds extended 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the storm’s core and tropical storm force winds were up to 90 miles (145 kilometers) out.
The hurricane center said 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30.5 centimeters) of rain should fall — and some places could see up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) — on parts of Mexico’s western Jalisco, western Nayarit and southern Sinaloa states. It warned of the danger of flash flooding and landslides in mountainous areas.
Farther to the south, Tropical Storm Vicente weakened but was still expected to produce heavy rainfall and flooding over parts of southern and southwestern Mexico.
