Pamela develops into a Hurricane as it reaches Mexico

Pamela became the 16th storm of the East Pacific hurricane season 2021, as it developed south of Mexico on Sunday evening. On Tuesday morning, Pamela earned a new title and became the seventh East Pacific hurricane of the season. AccuWeather forecasts expect the storm to hit western Mexico as a strong hurricane.

As of 11 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Pamela was about 170 miles west-southwest of Mazatlan, Mexico, and was pursuing north-northeast at 12 mph, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Pamela had winds of 70 km / h, just below hurricane status on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale to a tropical storm. However, the tropical storm is expected to intensify into a hurricane.

On Tuesday morning, hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings and watches were issued for parts of the southwest coast of Mexico as well as parts of the extreme southern Baja California Sur, according to the NHC.

The hurricane is circulating off the coast of the Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima and Michocán and is predicted to continue its northwestern path along the coast of Mexico. Pamela will likely make a slow northeast tour back to Mexico due to the steering.

Pamela intensified in a hurricane (maximum sustained wind of 74 km / h or more) early Tuesday morning before dropping wind intensity and becoming a tropical storm on Tuesday afternoon. It was expected to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane (maximum sustained wind of 74 km / h) before landing on Wednesday morning.

"The combination of warm ocean water and light wind shear will allow Pamela to strengthen in the next few days," said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Rob Miller.

AccuWeather meteorologists predicted that the impact of Pamela along the coasts of southern Baja California Sur and Sinaloa will be felt as early as Tuesday evening, local time.