Tropical Storm Nora is dropping heavy rains along the Gulf of California after weakening from a hurricane that set off floods and landslides on Mexico’s Pacific coast, caused havoc in Puerta Vallarta and left at least one dead and seven missing.
Nora weakened from a Category 1 hurricane at midday Sunday after making a brief land passage just inland from the Mazatlan resort area and then moving back over water and entering the narrow gulf. Though it was barely a tropical storm by late Sunday, forecasters warned that its heavy rains still posed a danger for areas along the gulf. Jalisco’s state government said a teenager from Spain died Saturday night as a hotel partially collapsed in Puerto Vallarta amid severe flooding as Nora passed the tourist town as a Category 1 Hurricane. A woman was also reported missing after her car was swept away. Communities in the coastal states of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco experienced heavy rain and rough surf as the storm moved northward battering itself by staying close to shore. Officials said floods damaged 500 homes and two people were injured in a landslide. Six fishermen from the state of Guerrero were reported missing at sea. Nora had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph) on Sunday evening and was moving north-northwest at 19 kph. The center was about 195 kilometers northwest of Mazatlan.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Nora would keep dragging along the mainland shore of the gulf and was expected to weaken into a tropical depression by Monday night. Moisture from the storm could bring heavy rains by midweek to the U.S. Southwest and central Rockies, the center said. The center said some areas along the west coast of Mexico could see rainfall totals from 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters) with even more in some spots.
