Hurricane Trudy had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) and a central pressure of 979 millibars at 3 a.m. CST Saturday, according to National Hurricane Center (NHC) Advisory 16. The storm's center was located near 16.0°N, 103.4°W, about 240 miles (385 km) west-southwest of Acapulco and 215 miles (345 km) south-southeast of Manzanillo, moving northwest at 8 mph.
On its forecast track, the NHC said Trudy would approach the coast of southwestern and west-central Mexico on Saturday and pass near the shoreline Saturday night into Sunday, affecting the states of Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco, including the resort area around Puerto Vallarta.
A storm that keeps fluctuating
Trudy briefly reached Category 3 strength overnight Thursday into Friday, with sustained winds of 120 mph (193 km/h), according to Latin Times. It then weakened to Category 1 by Friday evening, a drop that Yale Climate Connections attributed to meteorologists' assessment that the storm had passed over cooler ocean water already churned by earlier Hurricanes Polo and Rachel. By Saturday's NHC advisory, winds had ticked back up to 90 mph, and forecasters said some further strengthening was possible before weakening was expected to begin Sunday.
Warnings and preparations
- Hurricane Warning: coast from Manzanillo (Colima) northward to Cabo Corrientes (Jalisco) — NHC
- Hurricane Watch: south of Manzanillo to Punta San Telmo, Michoacán — NHC
- Tropical Storm Warning: south of Manzanillo to Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, and from Cabo Corrientes north to Punta Mita, Jalisco — NHC
- Tropical Storm Watch: north of Punta Mita to San Blas, and the Islas Marías — NHC
- Mexican authorities told residents to secure doors and windows and remove loose outdoor objects, and closed fishing and tourist ports to small vessels — Yahoo News/The Associated Press
Rainfall and flood risk
The NHC forecast 4 to 8 inches of rain across Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco, with isolated totals up to 15 inches. Hurricane-force winds extended roughly 35 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds up to 140 miles, the agency said. Officials warned the rain could trigger life-threatening flooding and mudslides, particularly in mountainous, steep terrain.
A Pacific coast already battered
Recent Mexican Pacific storms, 2026 season| Storm | Peak strength | Area affected | Reported outcome |
|---|
| Hurricane Simon | Category 4, 215 km/h (Oct. 11) | Sinaloa coast (offshore) | Stalled for several days with little forward movement and dissipated without making a mainland landfall — Latin Times |
|---|
| Tropical Storm Rachel | Tropical storm remnants | Ensenada, Baja California | Severe flooding; damaged roughly 1,500 homes on the Baja California peninsula — Yahoo News/AP |
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| Hurricane Trudy | Category 3, 120 mph (Oct. 15-16) | Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán | Approaching coast as Category 1 with 90 mph winds as of Saturday — NHC |
|---|
Simon and Rachel together were linked to six confirmed deaths as of Oct. 13, according to Latin Times: five members of one family, including two children, in Ensenada, and one man in Guerrero state. Six other people were reported missing across Baja California at the time. Latin Times also reported unconfirmed claims of a higher Ensenada death toll — as many as eight deaths from Rachel's rains — and agricultural losses exceeding $50 million, though authorities had not formally verified those figures.
Part of an unusually active season
Yale Climate Connections described the 2026 Eastern Pacific season as exceptionally busy, noting that while Trudy soaked Mexico's coast, Tropical Storm Champi, which formed near Micronesia on Thursday, was forecast to strengthen into a typhoon and pass near Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands by Sunday. Guam had already been hit by two Category 5 super typhoons earlier in the year, according to the outlet.
What remains unknown
As of Saturday morning's advisory, Trudy had not yet crossed the Mexican coastline, and the NHC said its exact landfall point, timing and peak intensity could still change. The agency said it would continue issuing updates as the storm neared shore.
Questions
- What category is Hurricane Trudy right now?
- As of the National Hurricane Center's 3 a.m. CST advisory on Saturday, Trudy was a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 km/h).
- Which areas of Mexico are under a hurricane warning for Trudy?
- The NHC's hurricane warning covers the coast from Manzanillo, Colima, northward to Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco, with a hurricane watch extending south to Punta San Telmo, Michoacán.
- How much rain is Hurricane Trudy expected to bring?
- The NHC forecast 4 to 8 inches of rain across Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco, with isolated totals as high as 15 inches, raising the risk of flooding and mudslides.
- Did Hurricane Trudy ever become a major hurricane?
- Yes. Trudy briefly reached Category 3 strength overnight Thursday into Friday with 120 mph winds, according to Latin Times, before weakening to Category 1 by Friday evening.
- How does Trudy compare with other storms that have hit Mexico's Pacific coast this season?
- Hurricane Simon reached Category 4 on Oct. 11 but stalled and dissipated without a mainland landfall, while Tropical Storm Rachel's remnants flooded Ensenada; the two storms were linked to six confirmed deaths as of Oct. 13, according to Latin Times.
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