Baja Prepares for Another Hit

Hurricane Rick Satellite, Image: NOAA

Baja California is preparing for another strike by a hurricane this season. Resort towns near Los Cabos, Mexico are preparing for a direct hit. Visible satellite imagery above shows a weakening Hurricane Rick, although it still packs winds up to 105 miles per hour this Monday afternoon. In September, Hurricane Jimena made landfall north of resort areas near Los Cabos as a category 2 hurricane, quickly weakening as it moved onshore.

Wind Probabilities Hurricane Rick, Image: NOAA

3 Day Track Forecast Hurricane Rick, Image: NOAA

Currently, National Hurricane Center forecasters believe the storm will still be a hurricane when it approaches Los Cabos on Wednesday. Wave action caused by the storms’ high winds is already being blamed for one death in the Los Cabos resort area. The first image above is a product from the National Hurricane Center that shows the probability of tropical storm or hurricane force winds. Currently there is a 70-80% chance of tropical storm force winds affecting Cabo San Lucas on Wednesday.

Large swells from the storms high winds over the last several days will definitely affect the coast of Baja and Mexico. At one point Rick’s maximum sustained winds topped out at 180 miles per hour. Category 5 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson scale are 155mph+.

For the latest on Hurricane Rick, please go to my section on Tracking Hurricanes and the MYL Forums.

For the latest on the high swells, check out the forecast from Surfline. Their blog is on the menu bar on the left hand side. Surfline has some great forecasters with the latest information on wind and wave action.

On the East Coast of the United States, it feels like winter! Cold weather advisories are in effect from Georgia to Pennsylvania.

-Dawn Brown