(Mexico) The hurricane Normawhich had passed into category 4, was downgraded to category 3 on Thursday as it approached the coast of Baja California, in northwestern Mexico, announced the American National Hurricane Center (NHC).
At 5 p.m. (Eastern time), the phenomenon was 425 km west of Manzanillo, with winds of 205 km/h and a speed of 9 km/h, according to the NHC.
The specialized institute predicts that “ Norma continues to weaken in the coming days,” but remains a hurricane near southern Baja California.
Thursday morning, Norma had strengthened, reaching category 4 out of the 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds of 250 km/h.
According to the trajectory planned by the Mexican National Water Commission, Norma is expected to make landfall twice, first on Saturday afternoon as a hurricane in the vicinity of the municipality of San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, then on Sunday as a tropical storm on the coast of the State of Sinaloa.
The approach of the powerful hurricane towards the peninsula, where the seaside resort of Los Cabos is located, popular with tourists from the United States, led the government to activate a national emergency plan, under the direction of the army. More than 6,600 soldiers were put on alert, according to the National Defense Secretariat.
Last week, western Mexico was hit by another powerful hurricane, Lidia, which left two people dead in the states of Jalisco and Nayarit.
With its long coastlines on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides, Mexico is regularly exposed to hurricanes that form offshore.
A dozen depressions per year are likely to turn into more or less devastating hurricanes depending on their point of entry.
The most powerful ever recorded, Patricia, in October 2015, with winds of 325 km/h, however, only caused material damage because it entered the territory through an uninhabited mountainous area.