Hurricane Erick has undergone rapid intensification and has been upgraded to a powerful Category 4 storm, now bearing down on southern Mexico’s Pacific coast.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Thursday morning that Erick reached sustained winds of 145 mph (233 km/h), with gusts up to 165 mph (266 km/h), placing it among the most dangerous hurricanes in the region.
A hurricane is defined as Category 4 when wind speeds reach 209-251 kph.
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The Associated Press reports the storm is currently positioned approximately 70 miles southwest of Puerto Ángel and 90 miles southeast of Punta Maldonado, moving northwest at around 9 mph.
A hurricane warning remains in effect from Acapulco to Puerto Ángel, with a slight shift in track now putting Puerto Escondido and neighboring coastal towns more directly in the line of fire.
Erick is expected to make landfall Thursday morning along the coast between Guerrero and Oaxaca. The system should begin weakening as it moves inland and encounters rugged terrain, but flood and mudslide threats may extend well inland.
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What this means
- The strength of Cat 4 means “catastrophic damage will occur." Coastal areas face severe storm surges and massive surf.
- Up to 16 inches of rainfall is forecast for Oaxaca and Guerrero, with flooding and mudslides particularly threatening mountainous terrain. Additional rainfall of 5–6 inches is expected in Chiapas, Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco.
Erick doubled in strength within 24 hours—an occurrence increasingly tied to rising sea temperatures and climate change trends.
According to reports, Mexican officials have opened over 580 shelters in Guerrero and thousands more in Oaxaca. Flights from Acapulco and Huatulco have been suspended.
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President Claudia Sheinbaum urged evacuees to follow official orders and shelter in place, while Guerrero’s Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda confirmed the region is at “MAXIMUM RISK."
Erick stands as the earliest “E”-named storm on record in the eastern Pacific—five days earlier than the previous record set in 2021—and marks the first hurricane landfall in Mexico this season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting a 60% chance of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season this year, forecasting a range of 13 to 19 named storms.
Travellers are advised to monitor the weather through the National Hurricane Center (NHC), purchase travel insurance, keep their travel documents up-to-date and to monitor local weather throughout their trip.
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