Tropical Storm Dalila Rainfall Map Shows Where Mexico Might Get Hit Hardest

Tropical Storm Dalila is expected to drop up to 9 inches of rain along Mexico’s southwestern coast through Sunday morning, with National Hurricane Center (NHC) experts warning of mudslides and flooding.

Newsweek reached out to the NHC by email for comment.

Why It Matters

The Eastern Pacific hurricane season began on May 15 and has seen a very active start. Tropical Storm Alvin kicked off the season in late May, followed by Hurricane Barbara and Tropical Storm Cosme. All three storms formed before the average first date of June 10 for a named storm in the region.

Now, the fourth storm, Tropical Storm Dalila, is strengthening off the southwestern coast of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Dalila Mexico Hit Hardest Rain — A map from the National Hurricane Center shows possible rainfall amounts in Mexico this weekend.

National Hurricane Center

What To Know

Maximum sustained winds have reached 40 mph, and forecasters anticipate that the storm will continue strengthening into Saturday.

The NHC anticipates that Dalila will take a western trek away from land and further into the Pacific Ocean. However, the storm is close enough to southwestern Mexico that some indirect land impacts are anticipated.

One of the biggest will be heavy rain. A rainfall forecast map published by the NHC shows that the heaviest rain is expected in coastal regions of Guerrero and Michoacan De Ocampo.

“Rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches are expected across portions of the Mexican states of Guerrero, Michoacán, and Colima through Sunday morning, with localized amounts up to 9 inches near the coast,” NHC said in the forecast. “This rainfall will lead to areas of flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain near the coast.”

In addition to heavy rainfall, the storm is causing high swells in the Pacific Ocean that will affect parts of the southwestern Mexico coast over the weekend.

“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” a forecast from the NHC said.

What People Are Saying

An NHC forecast: “A turn toward the northwest is expected later today, with a turn toward the west forecast by Sunday. On the forecast track, Dalila is forecast to move parallel to, but offshore of, the southwestern coast of Mexico.

“Dalila is a large system. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 310 miles (500 km) from the center.”

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski, in a report: “Beyond Dalila, another area could develop between June 17 and 20. This area of concern would be farther to the east, likely just offshore of the far southern coast of Mexico or even just offshore of Guatemala, but would likely take a similar track.”