Lorena becomes a hurricane in Pacific bringing heavy rain to Baja California; moisture to impact Southwest US
According to the FOX Forecast Center, some of the tropical moisture from Lorena could enhance the seasonal monsoon weather pattern across the Southwest U.S., with heavy rain beginning late Thursday or early Friday.
Lorena becomes a hurricane in the Eastern Pacific, as Hurricane Kiko expected to strengthen
Lorena became a hurricane Wednesday morning and is expected to track parallel to the Baja California coast of Mexico before approaching land Thursday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. Meanwhile, Hurricane Kiko is forecast to strengthen in to a major hurricane (Category 3+) later Wednesday as it heads in the general direction of Hawaii.
Lorena became a hurricane in the Eastern Pacific Ocean Wednesday morning and is expected to track parallel to the Baja California coast of Mexico before approaching land Thursday night, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Hurricane Lorena is currently a Category 1 storm some 120 miles south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
The government of Mexico has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the west coast of Baja California Sur from Santa Fe to Cabo San Lazaro, and a Tropical Storm Watch for the coast of Baja California Sur north of Cabo San Lazaro to Punta Abreojos.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, some of the tropical moisture from Lorena could enhance the seasonal monsoon weather pattern across the Southwest U.S., with heavy rain beginning late Thursday or early Friday.
HOW HURRICANE LORENA WILL HELP BRING INCREASED RAINFALL TO SOUTHWEST US
The NHC said that Hurricane Lorena reached maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, officially designating it as a hurricane.
Once a tropical storm's winds reach 74 mph, it is called a hurricane and maintains the same name it had when it was a tropical storm. Lorena first reached tropical storm strength on Tuesday morning.
The NHC expects that 5-10 inches could fall across parts of Baja California Sur and far southeastern Baja California through Friday, bringing the risk of flash floods and mudslides.
The current forecast track calls for Hurricane Lorena to move northwestward, parallel to the Mexican coast, before shifting north and moving over part of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula sometime Friday night into Saturday morning.
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Moisture from Hurricane Lorena to surge into US Southwest
According to the FOX Forecast Center, abundant atmospheric moisture from Lorena will surge into the Southwest U.S. from Thursday into the weekend.
While the heaviest rain is expected across Mexico, parts of Arizona and New Mexico could receive a widespread 1-2 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts possible.
Watch: Waves crash onto Mexican beaches as Tropical Storm Lorena forms in Eastern Pacific
A compilation of videos from Mexican Beaches show gloomy skies after the National Hurricane Center announced the development of Tropical Storm Lorena on Tuesday.
This is a somewhat similar pattern to the heavy rain that fell across parts of Southern California and Nevada last week, which was somewhat enhanced by the moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Juliette.
Phoenix also saw a massive dust storm last week, known as a haboob, which is caused by the monsoon weather pattern.
The Eastern Pacific Basin has already had an active start to the season, producing 10 named storms so far, five of them hurricanes, including three that reached Category 3 strength or higher.
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Elsewhere in the Pacific Basin, Hurricane Kiko, which formed Tuesday morning, is moving into the Central Pacific Ocean in the general direction of Hawaii.
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 to Nov. 30.