Tropical storm Kay to continue causing rain in northwestern Mexico
Mexico City, Sep 9 (EFE).- The cloud bands of tropical storm Kay, which remains off the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California, will continue to cause intense rains and very strong downpours in Sonora, northwest of the country, the National Meteorological Service reported Friday.
In a statement, the services said that on Friday night and during the early hours of Saturday, Kay’s cloud bands would produce torrential rains (from 150 millimeters to 250 millimeters) in Baja California, intense downpours (from 75 millimeters to 150 millimeters) in northwestern Sonora and scattered showers (from 5 millimeters to 25 millimeters) in Baja California Sur.
In addition, it forecast winds with gusts of 60 kmph to 80 kmph on the western coast of Baja California, as well as gusts of 50 kmph to 70 kmph in the north of the Gulf of California and northwest of Sonora, with waves from 1 meter to 3 meters high on the west coast of Baja California and the north of the Gulf of California.
“At 7:00 p.m. (00:00 GMT on Saturday), tropical storm Kay was located 185 kilometers southwest of Ensenada and 260 kilometers west-northwest of Punta Baja, both locations in Baja California,” said the statement.
And it advances with maximum sustained winds of 65 kmph, gusts of 85 kmph and moves west-northwest at 19 kmph.
Given these conditions, the service said that in coordination with the National Hurricane Center, it maintains a prevention zone for the effects of tropical storms, from Cabo San Quintín, Baja California, to the Mexico-United States border.
“The system is expected to gradually weaken over the next several hours,” the report said.
Kay, which was forecast to become a Category 3 hurricane, is the 12th tropical cyclone in Mexican waters during 2022, after Agatha, Blas, Celia, Bonnie, Darby, Estelle, Frank, Georgette, Howard, Ivette and Javier.
Mexican authorities reported last May that they foresee the formation of up to 40 named cyclones by 2022, which they described as an “active season,” and predicted that of the total number of tropical cyclones generated, both in the Atlantic and in the Pacific, at least five hit the country. EFE
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