As we’ve been reporting, Hurricane Willa made landfall along the southwestern coast of Mexico last night.
The impact of the storm, that was downgraded from a category 5 to a category 3 before it hit land, was felt in areas in Mexico familiar to a lot of people from San Diego County who visit Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, although it looks they have avoided a direct hit.
There are often hurricanes in the news in the southeast part of the U.S. but vver the years, there have not been a lot of large hurricanes slamming into the western side of Mexico. There certainly are some at times, but if you’re thinking that there sure have been a lot more hurricanes churning in the eastern Pacific Ocean lately, you’re right.
Forecasters say the back to back storms of Hurricane Willa and Hurricane Vicente make 2018 the most active hurricane season on record in the northeast Pacific. .
There have been 10 major hurricanes in the Pacific region this year and you have to go back more than 25 years, to 1992, to find a year when there have been that many hurricanes in that region.
Coincidentally, Hurricane Willa made landfall three years to the day after the strongest hurricane to hit the Pacific coast, Patricia, a Category 5 storm, made landfall in Jalisco.in 2015.
Scientists say the increasing number of big hurricanes are expected consequences of warmer ocean waters resulting from climate change. The ocean waters off Mexico's western coast are running 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit above average for late October.
So if you’re making future travel plans to Mexico this time of year, it’s probably going to be a good idea to check the long term forecasts.
(Photo credit Getty Images)