Agatha, the first tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season in the Pacific, is forming off Mexico’s southern coast
MEXICO CITY – Agatha, the first tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season in the Pacific, formed on Saturday off the south coast of Mexico.
The US National Hurricane Center said Agatha was continuing to grow and was expected to turn into a hurricane by Sunday and head for the mainland.
On Saturday night, the center of the tropical storm was about 175 miles (280 kilometers) southwest of Puerto Angel, with winds of 60 miles per hour (95 km / h).
The storm was moving north-northwest at 5 mph (7 km / h), but was expected to turn north.
A hurricane has been issued for parts of the coast of the southern state of Oaxaca, where Agatha could reach land by Monday, perhaps in the area around Puerto Escondido or the resort of Huatulco.
While the storm could cause winds of up to 100 miles per hour (160 km / h) on land, the center cited the risk of “potentially life-threatening flash floods and landslides” as its rains flooded Oaxaca’s mountainous terrain.
Mexico’s National Water Commission said in a statement that storm rains “could cause landslides, rising rivers and streams and flooding in low-lying areas.”
As the current path of the storm would carry it through the narrow belt of the Mexican isthmus, the center said there was a chance the remnants of the storm would reappear over the Gulf of Mexico.
In northern Guatemala, a woman and her six children died on Saturday when a landslide engulfed their home, but the incident does not appear to be related to Agatha.
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