Hurricane Willa Rapidly Intensifies, Impacts Travel Along Mexico’s Coast

An intensifying, newly formed Hurricane Willa is expected to develop into a major hurricane by Monday morning as it approaches Mexico’s Pacific Coast, threatening Manzanillo and Mazatlan.

A hurricane watch has already been issued for the stretch of shore between San Blas and Mazatlan. With the storm, residents and visitors can expect to see a potentially destructive storm surge, with possibly five to ten inches of rain across parts of western Jalisco, western Nayarit and southern Sinaloa states, with amounts dropping as Willa moves inland.

At least one cruise ship—Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Bliss—changed its itinerary after departing Saturday from the Port of Los Angeles. The ship elected to head north, visiting San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenada, instead of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Willa was about 260 miles south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes at midday Sunday, moving at 7 mph, and is expected to start curving toward the north-northeast.

“A turn toward the northwest and north at a slightly slower forward speed is expected through Tuesday,” the hurricane center reported. “Willa could approach the coast of west-central mainland Mexico by Wednesday as it begins to accelerate toward the northeast. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 105 mph with higher gusts. Rapid strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days.”

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TravelPulse is onboard the Norwegian Bliss to cover the 2018 National Conference of Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. The conference has about 1,000 travel professionals in attendance.

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