Just days before the Pacific hurricane season begins, there are expected to be between 16 and 20 tropical cyclones, of which between three and four are expected to reach devastating strength and size. The Pacific hurricane season begins on May 15, but this does not mean that the first hurricane will be recorded on that date, as some media outlets have reported, clarifies meteorologist Víctor Manuel Cornejo, Civil Protection advisor in Banderas Bay, an area between the coasts of Jalisco and Nayarit.
This year, Cornejo López explains, there are expected to be 16 to 20 tropical cyclones. Normally, the Pacific has between 16 and 17 tropical cyclones, so the number of cyclones is close to normal. Of these, the meteorologist adds, eight to nine would be tropical storms (with winds of 63 and 118 km/h), four to five category 1 and 2 hurricanes (winds between 119 and 153 km/h and 154 and 177 km/h -respectively) and four to six major hurricanes, that is, category three (178 and 208 km/h), four (209 and 251 km/h) or five (251 km/h or more). According to this year’s list, in the Pacific, Alvin would be the first name assigned to the first tropical storm and subsequent hurricane (if it develops into one), followed by Barbara, Cosme, and so on until reaching Hurricane Z.
“In fact, there is already a lot of biased information out there that speaks of Alvin as something catastrophic for Mexico, and that we need to take care of ourselves now, until May 15th. That’s a lie!” the meteorologist emphasized.
May 15th is an administrative date on which countries begin monitoring weather systems, especially cyclones. That’s what that date marks. It in no way means that the first cyclone will emerge on that day. That’s false! At a given time, it may coincide, but that would be a coincidence,” Cornejo López pointed out.
The meteorologist noted that tropical depressions are also a priority, “which are also cyclones and, in terms of flooding, greatly affect Mexico. We don’t have the capacity that developed countries have to consider tropical depressions as harmless cyclones. No, for us, tropical depressions also count and cause disasters in Mexico.”
Regarding rainfall, the meteorologist emphasized that in the case of Vallarta, they leave an average of 8 to 12 millimeters. “At 20 millimeters, there are puddles and flooding in some areas. At extraordinary levels, there are 40 to 50 mm, as well as 70 and above, which occasionally occur in Puerto Vallarta, as well as more than 100 mm in a single afternoon, “about two or three times a year.”
Source: jalisco.quadratin
