Storm drenches parts of Gulf of California

MEXICO CITY: Hurricane Lorena lashed parts of the Gulf of California with heavy rains and strong winds on Friday evening, wrongfooting meteorologists with a shift that sent it moving northwest away from the Mexican beach resorts of Los Cabos. Lorena, a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, was about 60 miles north-northeast of Cabo San Lucas with maximum sustained winds of up to 140 kph, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said in a statement.

The storm’s arrival prompted flights to Los Cabos to be cancelled and local schools to call off classes. However, its beach resorts appeared to have avoided the worst of the storm. Conagua, Mexico’s national water authority, said the storm had caused heavy downpours to the east in areas on and around the coast of the Gulf of California in the states of Sinaloa and Nayarit, as well as parts of Sonora and Durango farther inland. The Miami-based NHC said the future track of the hurricane was “highly uncertain” and that it would likely weaken if it moved inland along the spine of the Baja California peninsula. But Lorena could strengthen if it churned up through the waters of the Gulf of California, it said.

Earlier, the NHC had forecast Lorena would cross the peninsula and move northwest over the Pacific Ocean. However, by early evening, the hurricane was moving to the northwest at about 8 kph, hugging the eastern flank of the state of Baja California Sur. Scores of people have entered temporary shelters in Los Cabos, according to local civil protection authorities who warned residents to retreat from coastal areas. — Reuters