Cabo Survives Hurricane Blanca

Souvenir alley, leading from Cabo San Lucas to the marina, gets a cleanup Monday after a near-miss by an early hurricane.Bill Monroe

Sounds like Bill Monroe reporting for Oregon.Live was in Cabo when he filed this report:

The wind howled. Boats bounced in the harbor. Birds hunkered.

And in the end? Hurricane Blanca largely spared Cabo San Lucas a double punch from last year's devastating storm.

Even at the storm's height, one or two hard-core souvenir sellers were hawking wares to the few passing gringos out watching the wind and the boats in one of the highest-value marinas on earth.

Read more at Shake N Bake, Cabo San Lucas, survive Hurricane Blanca

Cabo Web Cam to Watch the Storm

http://www.cabovillas.com/properties.asp?PID=219&source=AAC&NCK=8554566700#livecam

Hurricane Blanca May or May Not Drench the Southwestern U.S. Next Week

Hurricane Blanca is only the second named storm in the three-week-old Pacific Hurricane Season, but it’s already the second category four hurricane to form there in the past two days. The storm will slowly move towards the Baja Peninsula this weekend, after which it might or might not drench the American Southwest.n>

Hurricane Blanca

• Hurricane Blanca is located just over 400 miles off the coast of the Mexican Riviera.
• Blanca strengthened into a hurricane Tuesday and will continue its rapid strengthening to a major hurricane (Category 3 or stronger) today.
• Blanca is nearly stationary, but will begin moving northwestward Thursday.
• Blanca may become an intense Category 4 hurricane Thursday or Friday, but is then expected to weaken quickly due to increased wind shear and movement over cooler water.
• There is increasing confidence in a track toward southern Baja California. However, the average track error at 96 hours is about 165 statute miles. With a small wind field, this can make a huge difference in impacts.
• If Blanca directly impacts the southern Baja peninsula, it would likely do so sometime Sunday. As mentioned above, however, Blanca is expected to be weakening, possibly rapidly, as it moves toward the latitude of the southern Baja peninsula.
• Those in the southern Baja peninsula, including Los Cabos, should closely monitor the progress of Blanca.
• High surf and swells generated from Blanca - and leftover from Andres - will affect the Mexican Riviera and southern Baja coast. Dangerous rip currents are likely.
• Remnant moisture from Blanca may eventually be drawn into the Desert Southwest and southern Rockies next week.
• Blanca is the earliest formation of the second hurricane in the eastern Pacific basin since reliable records began in 1971.
• According to NOAA's database, only one other pre-July 1 tropical cyclone tracked within 65 nautical miles of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a Jun. 14, 1958 Category 1 hurricane whose center passed just south of Los Cabos.  

Hurricane Blanca Landfall Sunday in Los Cabos

Just as Hurricane Andrés is set to expire, along comes Hurricane Blanca. Blanca was upgraded today to a Category 1 hurricane today

Andrés has increased in strength and is now rated as Category 4 but is expected to weaken to a tropical storm by Wednesday.

Tropical storm Blanca, the second named storm of the season, is now the focus of attention on the Pacific coast and is expected to strengthen quickly, according to the United States National Hurricane Center.

However, there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect. Blanca was located 540 kilometers south-southwest of Zihuatanejo at 10:00am Central and moving northwest. Little motion is expected tomorrow and Wednesday.

Blanca is forecast to deliver very heavy rains in Jalisco, Michoacán and Guerrero.

Hurricane Andrés was reported 1,350 kilometers southwest of the southern tip of Baja California Sur this morning and heading west-northwest. Its sustained winds were blowing at 220 km/h.

The NHC warned that a high swell generated by the hurricane is affecting parts of the west coast of the Baja peninsula and will likely cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

UPDATE:  It is forecast to strengthen until Friday when it will begin to weaken before making landfall Sunday in Los Cabos. Forecasters said it was too early to tell what impact it might have on the Baja peninsula.

Mexico News Daily