Key Takeaways:
- On Tuesday, Hurricane Otis quickly intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane.
- Early on Wednesday, Otis touched down close to Acapulco, Mexico.
- This hurricane is the fiercest to ever make landfall in this region of Mexico.
After undergoing an extremely quick development on Tuesday, Hurricane Otis made a remarkable landfall as a Category 5 hurricane early on Wednesday morning close to Acapulco, Mexico. At 1:25 a.m. CDT, Otis crashed ashore close to Acapulco, a metropolis of almost a million people, with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. At 10 a.m. CDT, Otis was a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph. At 11 p.m. CDT, 13 hours later, the winds had increased to 165 mph, making it a Category 5. A wind increase of at least 35 mph in a 24-hour period is referred to as rapid intensification. With a wind increase of 95 mph in just 13 hours and 110 mph in 24 hours, Otis easily exceeded that criterion.
What were the possible contributors to the massive intensification of Otis?
- Otis was a minor storm on Tuesday until it started to pick up speed. Quick fluctuations in intensity, both up and down, are usually more common in smaller tropical storms and hurricanes.
- NOAA hurricane expert Andy Hazelton has observed that an upper-level disturbance, or trough, near Mexico’s Baja California may have boosted the storm’s outflow. Hurricanes can intensify and get stronger as a result of this ventilation aid.
- The water was about 80 degrees Celsius along the Mexican shore, which is warm enough for a hurricane to intensify quickly.
Where is Otis located now?
Otis is centred over Mexico inland, where it will quickly diminish before dissipating later in the day. There will always be a risk of flooding rain, mudslides, and catastrophic winds. Through Thursday, Guerrero and some areas of Oaxaca should have 8 to 16 inches of rain. Higher totals of up to 20 inches of rain are likely locally. Given the area’s rugged nature, flooding and mudslides are a possibility.
What does this mean for you?
As a category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Otis tore through the Mexican tourist city of Acapulco, destroying houses, hotels, and hospitals in its wake. However, because connection with the city is still down, it is still unknown how much damage was actually done. While authorities in the southern state of Guerrero tried to assess the damage, pictures and videos of damaged buildings and cars half submerged in floodwaters appeared on the internet as morning broke on Wednesday.
