Mexico City — Trudy Weakens to Tropical Storm Off Pacific Coast

Hurricane Trudy weakened to a tropical storm by Monday morning after menacing Mexico's Pacific coast as a category 2 system, prompting the U.S. National Hurricane Center to lift coastal warnings it had issued for the states of Jalisco, Michoacán and Colima, according to the Guardian.

Trudy marked the 22nd named storm of the Pacific season, a pace the Guardian described as running well ahead of a comparatively quiet Atlantic season. Forecasters tracked the storm roughly 100 miles (160km) southwest of the Mexican coast at its peak, keeping the most severe conditions offshore even as warnings covered populated coastal areas.

How Strong Did Hurricane Trudy Get, and Where?

The National Hurricane Center classified Trudy as a category 2 hurricane while it sat offshore from south-western Mexico, the Guardian reported. The agency forecast sustained winds of 60-90mph for coastal Jalisco, Michoacán and Colima on Sunday, alongside rainfall totals estimated at 100-150mm for those same areas. By Monday, the storm had been downgraded to tropical storm strength and coastal warnings were lifted.

Why Did Mexico's Pacific Coast Face Hurricane Warnings?

The hurricane center's warnings reflected the storm's track roughly 100 miles offshore, close enough that onshore winds raised the risk of a dangerous storm surge paired with damaging waves along the coast of south-western Mexico, according to the Guardian's account. Forecasters also flagged flooding and landslide risk tied to the projected 100-150mm of rainfall, a volume capable of overwhelming drainage in hillside and coastal communities even without a direct landfall.

What Are the Key Rainfall and Storm Figures?

• Trudy: category 2 hurricane, roughly 100 miles (160km) southwest of Mexico's coast at peak strength
• Mexico coastal forecast: sustained winds of 60-90mph, rainfall of 100-150mm for Jalisco, Michoacán and Colima
• Rhodes, Greece: 202mm of rain recorded between 3:30am and 9:50am UTC on October 14, per the National Observatory of Athens
• Istanbul, Turkey: 242mm of rain recorded over October 14-15, according to the Istanbul metropolitan municipality

How Bad Was the Flooding in Greece?

Heavy rain and thunderstorms caused severe flooding and one death across the Greek islands of Rhodes, Evia and the Sporades last week, the Guardian reported. A monitoring station in Rhodes recorded 202mm of rain in roughly six hours on October 14, data from the National Observatory of Athens showed. Regional authorities carried out more than 30 rescue and extrication operations, and the Greek coastguard said four passenger vehicles were swept into the sea during the storm. On the island of Skiathos, floodwaters swept away two additional cars, according to the Guardian.

A station in Rhodes recorded 202mm of rain between 3:30am and 9:50am UTC on October 14 — close to a typical month's rainfall in a span of hours, per the National Observatory of Athens.

What Happened With Flooding in Istanbul?

Five deaths were linked to severe flooding in Istanbul last week, the Guardian reported, after heavy rain on October 14 and 15 triggered school closures, flight delays and landslides across several Turkish provinces. The Istanbul metropolitan municipality recorded 242mm of rain over the two-day period, a total that outpaced the rainfall logged in Rhodes during the Greek flooding event.

What To Watch

• Whether Trudy's remnant moisture produces additional rainfall or mudslide risk inland across Jalisco, Michoacán and Colima after its downgrade to tropical storm strength
• Any revised death toll or damage assessment from Greek regional authorities following last week's flooding on Rhodes, Evia, Skiathos and the Sporades
• Further rainfall or infrastructure reports from Istanbul's metropolitan municipality tied to the October 14-15 storm system
• Pacific storm activity generally, given Trudy's status as the 22nd named system this season, a pace the Guardian noted stands in contrast to the quieter Atlantic season
• Whether the U.S. National Hurricane Center reissues coastal warnings for south-western Mexico if storm surge or wave conditions redevelop

The Guardian's reporting did not include a named meteorologist or climate researcher assessing whether this season's elevated Pacific storm count reflects a broader pattern, and no such attribution is available in the source material reviewed for this report.