Mexico is bracing itself for more bad weather in the form of tropical storms Octave and Priscilla, which are moving across the eastern Pacific weeks after more than 100 people were killed by Hurricanes Manuel and Ingrid.
Whipping up winds of nearly 40mph, Priscilla is expected to strengthen as it moves towards Mexico’s Baja California from its current starting position around 705 miles south of there.
Tom Moore, a coordinating meteorologist at weather.com, said Priscilla was not likely to pose a major risk except at sea. "It’s going to be out and not affect any land,” he said.
He said Tropical Storm Octave was "a different story,” because it was likely to make landfall, but added he was not expecting it to cause much, if any, damage.
The weather system is maintaining its strength with maximum sustained winds near 65 mph although the U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm is expected to weaken and become a tropical depression by the time it nears Baja California on Tuesday.
It is currently centered about 245 miles south-southwest of Cabo San Lazaro, Mexico, and is moving north-northwest near 14 mph, according to the Associated Press.
“The water tends to be cooler when it gets up to that latitude so it will weaken but it will dump some heavy rain on the Baja," he said. "But the good news is that’s a very unpopulated area.”
He added that there would be some effects on the U.S., especially in Texas.
“Some of Octave’s moisture is going to enhance the rainfall there, likely tomorrow” he said.