Spanish
Mexico City, June 18 (EFE).- Tropical storm Erick intensified this Wednesday to become a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, as it approaches the coasts of southern Mexico, reported the National Meteorological Service (SMN).
According to the most recent report, at 6:00 local time (12:00 GMT) the center of the hurricane, the first of the 2025 season in the Mexican Pacific, was located approximately 255 kilometers south-southeast of Puerto Ángel, Oaxaca, and 440 km southeast of Punta Maldonado, Guerrero.
Erick has maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour (km/h), gusts to 140 km/h and moving northwest at 11 km/h.
The SMN alerted on Tuesday about the evolution of Erick into a potential hurricane, which is expected to make landfall as a category 2 between today and tomorrow in the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, with the possibility of intensifying to category 4 or 5.
During the morning of this Wednesday, the cyclone will leave torrential punctual rains, from 150 to 250 millimeters, in Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas and southern Veracruz.
Winds of up to 100 to 120 km/h are also forecast, with gusts of 130 to 150 km/h on the coasts of Oaxaca and Chiapas and 40 to 60 km/h with gusts of 70 to 90 km/h in Guerrero.
In addition to swells of up to 2.5 to 3.5 meters high on the coasts of Oaxaca and Chiapas, as well as waves of between 1.5 and 2.5 meters in Guerrero.
The SMN activated a hurricane warning area from Acapulco, Guerrero, to Puerto Ángel, Oaxaca; a hurricane watch area from west of Acapulco to Técpan de Galeana, Guerrero and from east of Puerto Ángel to Bahías de Huatulco, Oaxaca.
It also activated a prevention zone due to tropical storm effects from east of Puerto Ángel to Salina Cruz, Oaxaca.
Authorities warned of possible landslides, river rises, and floods in low-lying areas. The population should follow the SMN's warnings and heed the instructions of Civil Protection.
Mexico anticipates the possible formation of up to 37 named cyclones in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans this season, of which five could impact the country.
In the 2024 hurricane season, three cyclones hit Mexico from the Atlantic: Hurricane Beryl and Storm Chris, in July; and Storm Alberto, in June, which left six people dead in Nuevo León (north).
While in the Pacific the blow came with Hurricane John, which made landfall on September 23 as a category 3 and left 29 fatalities in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Michoacán.
