Tropical Storm John Strengthens Again Along Mexico’s Pacific Coast

Hurricane John, which made landfall in western Mexico on Monday and battered the region with strong winds and heavy rains before dissipating, regained strength as a tropical storm over the Pacific Ocean late Tuesday, prompting a hurricane and tropical storm warning for southern and southwestern Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Wednesday that the storm could regain hurricane status as it moves along the coast within the hurricane warning area from Tecpan de Galeana to Lazaro Cardenas. A hurricane warning was also issued from Acapulco to Tecpan de Galeana and Lazaro Cardenas to Punta San Telmo on Thursday.

A tornado watch means tornado conditions are possible within the watch area within 12 hours of Wednesday afternoon.

A tropical storm warning, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, was issued from Punta Maldonado to Acapulco and Lazaro Cardenas to Punta San Telmo, meteorologists said.

The center added that “preparations must be completed quickly to protect lives and property.”

The system strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane on Monday, bringing winds of about 120 mph as it struck land.

Meteorologists tracked the storm as it crashed over Mexico Tuesday afternoon, but warned of the potential for flash flooding in the southern and southwestern parts of the country for several more days.

By Wednesday afternoon, the storm’s maximum sustained winds had increased to about 50 mph, with stronger gusts. The storm is expected to strengthen as it approaches the coast of southern Mexico on Thursday.

The storm is expected to bring an additional 10 to 20 inches of rain and up to 30 inches in the coastal states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Michoacan through Friday, meteorologists said.

the Heavy rains are likely. “Large, catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides” are possible along four states on Mexico’s coast, the center said.

Before the storm, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador The population has been urged In affected areas, people should “seek higher ground, protect themselves and not forget that life is the most important thing; material things can be replaced.”

By Tuesday morning, the storm had already dumped more than 10 inches of rain on parts of Guerrero and Oaxaca states, two of the country’s poorest, according to local authorities.

The storm’s worst impact was in Guerrero, said state Governor Evelyn Salgado. Two people died in their homes in a landslide in the municipality of Tlacoachistlahuaca. At least 60,000 people were without power after the storm hit the region, uprooting trees and blocking highways. According to the Associated Press.

A recent study showed that rapid intensification, as in John’s case, is now twice as likely, at least for Atlantic hurricanes, due in part to human-caused climate change from the burning of fossil fuels.

John is the 10th storm to form in the eastern Pacific in 2024, and it’s moving through the region at the same time as a powerful Atlantic storm, Hurricane Helen, is forming in the Gulf of Mexico on its way to a possible landfall in Florida on Thursday.

The two storms are related in some ways — they both originated from the same parent system, called the Central American Gyre, a broad area of ​​storms across Central America that gave rise to both Helene and John. It’s that same broad quality of storm that will make Helene a major hurricane as it spins out of the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida.

Judson Jones Contribute to the preparation of reports.