Hurricane Trudy Intensifies to Category 1 and Heads Toward Mexico Pacific Coast

Hurricane Trudy strengthened to Category 1 status on 15 October while moving parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported. At 9 a.m. CST the centre was located about 285 miles south-southwest of Acapulco and 445 miles south-southeast of Manzanillo, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and a minimum pressure of 975 millibars.

The storm was moving north-northwest at 6 mph. Forecasters expect rapid intensification over the next 24 hours, with Trudy becoming a major hurricane by Friday. On the projected track it will approach the coast of southwestern and west-central Mexico this weekend, bringing heavy rainfall to Colima and Jalisco.

Mexico’s government issued a Tropical Storm Watch from Punta San Telmo southward to Zihuatanejo. The National Hurricane Center warned of life-threatening flooding and landslides, especially on steep terrain, and of large swells that will create dangerous surf and rip currents along the southwestern coast beginning Friday.

Trudy is the 19th named storm of the 2026 Eastern Pacific season. Earlier storms in the region left deaths and severe flooding. A second system, Tropical Storm Simon, remains nearly stationary farther northwest and is forecast to graze the Baja California peninsula over the weekend after earlier rainfall along the coast.

Mexican authorities have begun preparations in Guerrero, Colima and Jalisco. The Commission Nacional del Agua reported Trudy’s position and winds consistent with the National Hurricane Center advisory and warned of intense rainfall in parts of Oaxaca and Guerrero. Coastal communities that have already faced multiple storms this season face additional risk from the combination of wind, surge and prolonged rain.

The forecast confidence decreases after 48 hours because of uncertainty about how closely the track will hug the coastline. Even if the centre remains offshore, the rain bands and swells will affect a long stretch of the Pacific coast. Residents in low-lying and mountainous areas of Colima and Jalisco have been advised to prepare for possible evacuation if conditions worsen.