Hurricane Newton made landfall on Mexico’s western coast Tuesday morning, dumping heavy rain and killing at least two people, officials said.
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Though the storm should dissipate over the Southwest in the next day or so, leftover moisture from Newton will help fuel drenching rain and thunderstorms across the Plains and Midwest later this week, AccuWeather predicted.
Hurricane Newton has gone from the Pacific into the Gulf of California and is moving Northward at about 15 miles per hour.
A couple walks next to an advertisement toppled by Hurricane Newton in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Tuesday Sept. 6, 2016. Prolonged heavy rain will bring threats of flash flooding to northern Michigan, Wisconsin, northern IL, eastern Iowa and southeast Minnesota.
Newton also brought a more tropical-like climate in the form of temperatures in the 70s and relative humidity between 75 and 90 percent. The humidity in Phoenix and Tucson was actually equal to or higher than Miami and New Orleans on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, a more organized swath of heavy, flooding rainfall will arrive across southeastern Arizona.
“It’s not our typical monsoon patter at the moment, that’s what makes it more unusual”, French said. Newton is forecast to achieve hurricane status on Tuesday, making landfall on the peninsula’s tip the same day, before slowly weakening as it moves deeper into the North American mainland.
Mexico’s government had discontinued all coastal watches and warnings for the storm Wednesday morning.
Hurricane Newton knocked out power in parts of Los Cabos, but residents were spared the kind of extensive damage seen two years ago when Odile came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane. There will be some sunshine mixed into the area, like there was today, as Hermine has ingested large amounts of dry air which is helping to break up the cloud cover some, but as occurred today at my house, the sun can be out one minute and then rain and winds can be there within a matter of minutes.
The bodies of two people believed to be crew members of a fishing boat were found on a beach, while three others still remain missing.
Local airports closed late Monday, while small boats were barred from using the ports in case of a storm surge in low-lying areas areas.
By evening, the storm had crossed the tourist resort area and was about to head over the Gulf of California. The storm system, which is near Mexico’s Bahia Kino, has maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour and is moving north at a speed of 17 miles per hour.
By 11 a.m. EDT on September 7 NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.Newton continues to weaken over northern Sonora, Mexico and high wind and flash flood watches in effect for portions of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
“Heavy rain could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides, especially in mountainous terrain”, the center said.
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Another boat caught in the storm was the yacht Salty Dog, which is believed to have been disabled by a mechanical failure while traveling from San José del Cabo to La Paz.
