Erick projected to become major hurricane, strike western Mexico

June 18 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Erick is forecast to become a major hurricane in the Pacific Ocean and strike western Mexico one day after becoming named storm, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

In its 3 p.m. CST advisory, the NHC said Erick had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph as a Category 2 storm, just 1 mph from becoming a major storm as a Category 3. Erick was about 85 miles south of Puerto Angel, Mexico, and about 185 miles southeast of Punta Maldonado, Mexico.

The storm, which was moving 9 mph northwest, became a hurricane Wednesday morning.

Erick is forecast to be a major hurricane when it reaches the coast of western Oaxaca or eastern Guerrero on Wednesday morning or early Thursday, NHC said.

“Erick has been rapidly strengthening for the past 12 hours, and given the extremely favorable atmospheric and oceanic conditions along Erick’s forecast track, further intensification in the short term appears very likely,” NHC forecaster Alex Hagen wrote in a discussion.

Devastating wind damage is possible as the core of the storm moves onshore, Hagen said.

Erick will produce heavy rainfall across portions of Central America and Southwest Mexico through this week with life-threatening flooding and mudslides likely, especially in steep terrain.

“A dangerous, life-threatening storm surge is expected to produce coastal flooding near and to the east of where the center crosses the coast, in areas of onshore winds,” Hagen said. “The surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.”

Acapulco to Puerto Angel is under a hurricane warning, while a hurricane watch has been issued for the area west of Acapulco to Tecpan de Galeana.

The region between Puerto Angel to Salina Cruz and West of Acapulco to Tecpan de Galeana is under a tropical storm warning.

Erick will produce 8 to 16 inches of rain across the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the NHC said.

Erick is the fifth named storm in the Pacific this year. No storms have formed in the Atlantic yet.

The hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.