Adrián, the first named cyclone of the Pacific season, moves west “gradually” away from the Mexican coasts, after it intensified this Wednesday morning to a category 1 hurricane, causing “very heavy” rains in the western Mexican states, according to the National Meteorological Service (SMN).
“The circulation of Hurricane ‘Adrián’ category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale It will favor the entry of moisture from the Pacific Ocean to the west and south of the country causing heavy rains at very strong points, gusts of wind and high waves in western states of the Mexican territory”, indicated the SMN in its most recent report.
The center of Adrián, which formed on Tuesday as a tropical storm, is located 585 kilometers southwest of Playa Pérula, in the western state of Jalisco, and 600 kilometers southwest of Manzanillo, a port in the state of Colima.
The phenomenon presents maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour, gusts of 155 kilometers per hour and a westward displacement at 13 kilometers per hour.
Although the cyclone “will not make landfall”, the SMN expects that in the next few hours Adrián’s cloud bands will cause “very heavy” rains, from 50 to 75 millimeters, in the states of Jalisco, Colima, Guerrero and Michoacán, in addition to ” strong”, from 25 to 50 millimeters in Nayarit.
Likewise, it will cause gusts of wind of 40 to 50 kilometers per hour with waves of 1 to 3 meters high on the coasts of Colima, Jalisco, Michoacán and western Guerrero.
The agency warned that the rainfall could be accompanied by electrical discharges and generate an increase in the levels of rivers and streams, overflows, floods and landslides in areas of the aforementioned states.
Given these conditions, the SMN asked the population of the mentioned states to take extreme precautions due to rain, wind and waves (including maritime navigation) and to comply with the recommendations issued by the authorities of the National Civil Protection System, in each entity.
Beginnings of May, the Government of Mexico forecast the possible formation of up to 38 named cyclones in the 2023 season, of which five could impact the country.
Of that number, between 16 and 22 systems could occur in the Pacific Ocean and between 10 and 16 in the Atlantic.
The SMN explained that in the case of the Pacific “16 to 22 tropical cyclones are expectedamong them, from 9 to 11 tropical storms, from 4 to 6 category 1 and 2 hurricanes, and from 3 to 5 category 3, 4 and 5 hurricanes”.
In 2022, 36 tropical cyclones were generated in Mexico, 19 in the Pacific and 17 in the Atlantic, and of these, 10 systems affected the country, 8 impacted, and the bands of the other 2 caused considerable flooding and rain.
