Hurricane Willa path tracker: Hurricane to reach CATEGORY 5 before hitting Mexico
HURRICANE WILLA has rapidly gained strength in the eastern Pacific Ocean and is expected to strengthen even further before making landfall in Mexico.
Hurricane Willa: SHOCK graph shows storm moving rapidly
Packing winds of up to 155mph, Willa is just 2mph away from becoming a Category 5 hurricane.
Hurricane-force winds extend up to 25 miles from the centre of the storm.
Currently, the NHC predicts that life-threatening storm surges, severe winds and torrential rainfall will impact areas of west-central and southwestern Mexico.
As of the NHC’s latest advisory at 12.00am local time (7am BST) Hurricane Willa was located approximately 195 miles south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico.
The hurricane is forecast to move toward the north-northeast and track over or very close to the Mexican islands Islas Marias on Tuesday.
Then Willa will make landfall along the southwestern coast of mainland Mexico on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
The NHC also predict that additional strengthening of Hurricane Willa is expected today, meaning that it could reach Category 5 status later today.
It will then weaken slightly before making landfall but will still be a dangerous hurricane when it does hit.
Dangers for Mexico include torrential rain, hurricane-force winds and deadly storm surges.
The southwestern Mexican coast is warned to brace for dangerous storm surges which will impact on Tuesday.
Heavy rainfall will also cause dangerous conditions, as six to twelve inches are forecast to fall.
In areas of western Jalisco rainfall accumulations could be as high as 18 inches, triggering life-threatening flash flooding and landslides.
Hurricane force winds are forecast to impact areas in San Blas to Mazatlan, including Las Islas Marias late Tuesday evening.
There are two types of warnings in place for Mexico, a Hurricane Warning and a Tropical Storm Warning.
A Hurricane Warning means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area.
Whilst a Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours.
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for:
- San Blas to Mazatlan, including Las Islas Marias
Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for:
- Playa Perula to San Blas
- North of Mazatlan to Bahia Tempehuaya