As Tropical Storm Max pummels Mexico on Monday, another storm in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Lidia, is expected to wallop the country as a hurricane the following day, forecasters warn.
Tropical Storm Max made landfall Monday afternoon along the southern Mexico coast roughly 40 miles from the popular resort city of Zihuatanejo. The storm brought wind speeds topping 60 miles per hour and torrential rainfall, Dan Brown, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) told Newsweek in a phone interview on Monday night.
Brown said while Max should weaken quickly and likely dissipate by Tuesday morning, there will be excess “remnant moisture” around the southern coast of Mexico that increases the risk of dangerous flooding.
National Hurricane Center
“There’s still a threat for heavy rainfall, especially through Tuesday,” Brown said. “Between four to eight inches of rainfall are likely with a maximum of 12 inches. Because that area is so mountainous, there’s likely to be some flash flooding and some mudslides.”
While the country will still be dealing with the lingering effects of Max, Tropical Storm Lidia is forecast to make landfall in West-Central Mexico as a hurricane on Tuesday evening, Brown said.
Lidia is expected to have “hurricane-force” winds reaching 100 mph as the storm slams the coast north of the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, hundreds of miles away from where Max made landfall.
National Hurricane Center
“Lidia is likely to bring not only just strong winds but very dangerous storm surge as well and the potential for flooding,” Brown told Newsweek.
Swells from Lidia will also cause “dangerous” surf and rip currents along Mexico’s west coast and the Baja California peninsula for the next several days, NHC warns.
The Mexican government has issued a Hurricane Watch and Tropical Storm Warning for areas expected to be hit hardest by Lidia and Max, which include Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, Michoacán, and Guerrero.
After Lidia barrels through Mexico, the latest forecasts show the storm continuing through southern Texas.
The storm is expected to dump 2 inches of rain on the Lonestar State, which has been plagued by a severe drought all summer. However, the soil is too dry to quickly absorb excessive rainfall, leading to increased risks of flash flooding in the southern tip of Texas, according to NHC.
