Lorena becomes hurricane in the Pacific, bringing heavy rains to Baja California; moisture will impact southwestern U.S.
Some tropical moisture from Lorena could intensify the seasonal monsoon pattern in the southwestern United States, with heavy rains beginning Thursday night or early Friday.
Lorena became a hurricane Wednesday morning and is expected to move parallel to the coast of Baja California, Mexico, before approaching landfall on Thursday night, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Meanwhile, Hurricane Kiko could intensify to a Category 3 or later on Wednesday, heading in the general direction of Hawaii.
Lorena is currently a Category 1 hurricane, located about 120 miles south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
The Mexican government has issued a tropical storm warning for the west coast of Baja California Sur, from Santa Fe to Cabo San Lazaro, and a tropical storm watch for the north coast from Cabo San Lazaro to Punta Abreojos.
The NHC reported that Lorena reached maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, which officially makes it a hurricane. A tropical storm is classified as a hurricane when it exceeds winds of 74 mph and retains the same name. Lorena reached tropical storm status Tuesday morning.
Between 5 and 10 inches of rain is forecast to fall in parts of Baja California Sur and extreme southeastern Baja California through Friday, with a risk of flash flooding and landslides.
The current track forecasts that Lorena will move northwestward, parallel to the Mexican coast, before turning northward and entering the Baja California peninsula between Friday night and Saturday morning.
NOAA hurricane hunters took off Wednesday morning on a reconnaissance mission, which will allow the NHC to learn more details about Lorena's exact characteristics.
In addition, abundant moisture associated with Lorena is expected to reach the southwestern United States from Thursday through the weekend. Although the heaviest rainfall will be concentrated in Mexico, portions of Arizona and New Mexico could receive 1 to 2 inches of widespread rainfall, with locally higher accumulations.
Last week, a similar pattern brought heavy rains to parts of Southern California and Nevada, favored by the remnants of Tropical Storm Juliette. Phoenix also experienced a massive dust storm, known as a haboobcharacteristic of the monsoon pattern.
The eastern Pacific basin has had an active start to the season, with 10 named storms so far, five of them hurricanes, including three that reached Category 3 or higher.
Elsewhere in the Central Pacific, Hurricane Kiko, which formed Tuesday morning, is moving westward toward Hawaii.
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 to November 30.
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