A tropical storm which formed off the Pacific coast of Mexico this week, strengthened rapidly into an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane before slamming into the popular tourist resort city of Acapulco.

Published 7 months ago

Hurricane Otis is estimated to have made landfall around 0625 UTC on Wednesday October 25 in the greater Acapulco area.

According to news reports, the sudden burst of power from the Category 5 hurricane took many by surprise as it bore down on Acapulco with maximum winds of 145 knots.

It then moved inland and began to weaken, but not before causing severe damage to power and communications infrastructure and causing widespread flooding and landslides.‌

According to reports from cruisers posted on various social media pages, the Acapulco Marina and Docks have been destroyed with boats piled on top of one another from.

Flooding has inundated the city and lower lying areas, including hotels and hospitals.

Acapulco Yacht Club Marina destroyed

The Acapulco Yacht Club marina and docks have been levelled, with boats piled on top of one another according to social media reports.

At its highest point the shoreline sits just above 25 feet with its lowest point at 3.5 Feet. The storm surge has no where to go as the city is also surrounded by a mountain wall to its back. Flooding inundated the city and lower lying areas destroying much of the coastal plain.

Four tropical cyclones in three weeks

From October 9 to October 25, western Mexico has been hit by four consecutive eastern North Pacific tropical cyclones. Three were hurricanes at landfall – Norma was weakening while Lidia and Otis were major hurricanes that rapidly intensified on approach to land.

Meanwhile in the Caribbean…

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is keeping an eye on Hurricane Tammy with an advisory notice of hazardous surf to affect portions of Bermuda, the northern Leeward Islands, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico during the next couple of days. These swells are likely. to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

The NHC said Tammy remains a powerful cyclone but has lost many of its tropical characteristics while meandering in the North Atlantic. It was located about 400 miles to the east-southeast of Bermuda and had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph on October 25, 2023.

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• Related News:
• Hurricane Otis’ Category 5 Nightmare for Acapulco (CNN)
• Hurricane Otis unleashes massive flooding in Acapulco (AP News)
• Hurricane Otis smashes into Mexico Coast (BBC News)

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Related Links:

• Noonsite Weather Resources
• Hurricane Otis – NASA Earth Observatory
• National Hurricane Center

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