John, once a Category 3 hurricane, waned for a time but has since re-formed just off the Pacific coast. The storm will make a repeat visit to the same area of the Mexican coast as the first round, with torrential rains and dangerous flooding the biggest threats to life and property, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
Shortly after becoming a major hurricane, Hurricane John moved inland over Mexico and rapidly weakened in wind strength. However, earlier this week, the hurricane dumped torrential rains near Acapulco.
“Because some of John’s old circulation remained intact as the storm drifted across the Pacific and regained wind strength, the storm retained its old name,” said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather’s chief hurricane expert.
John will drift northeast as a tropical storm and make landfall along the coast of Mexico before the end of the week. This time, the storm’s center will be west of Acapulco instead of east of the major port city and vacation destination. The first time, the storm was farther southwest along the coast of Mexico.
“Due to interaction with land, John’s winds will decrease again, but the storm will still produce torrential rain,” DaSilva said.
“The risk of flash flooding and mudslides is greatest where the old and new rain areas overlap. However, life-threatening conditions can occur even where the initial rain has failed to materialize,” DaSilva added.
This time around, some of John’s strongest winds will hit Acapulco, but the gusts are expected to be closer to tropical storm intensity than major hurricane intensity.
A storm surge of several meters high is possible, with the greatest flooding risk occurring near and just southeast of where the center makes landfall.
It could take until the weekend for all the tropical rains John has brought to subside.
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