The latest storm information from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Hurricane Kristy has rapidly strengthened into a major hurricane and is now forecast to reach Category 5 super storm strength as it moves further away from the coast of Mexico in the eastern Pacific.
Hurricane Kristy is a new storm that formed from the remnants of Tropical Storm Nadine in the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Nadine made landfall near Belize City, Belize, on the afternoon of October 19, bringing strong winds. After moving inland through Central America and Mexico, the storm weakened and dissipated on October 20. The remnants of Hurricane Nadine later resurged as Hurricane Kristy off the Pacific coast of southern Mexico.
Because this was not Nadine's original circulation, the US National Hurricane Center assigned a new name to the storm according to the 2024 Eastern Pacific hurricane season naming list.
Hurricane Kristy has rapidly intensified. The remnants of Hurricane Nadine reorganized on October 21 and officially became Hurricane Kristy on the afternoon of October 22. The storm then rapidly intensified and quickly became a major hurricane. By the evening of October 23, Kristy was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 250 km/h, just 3 km/h away from reaching Category 5 super typhoon strength. The US National Hurricane Center forecast that the latest storm will continue to strengthen and reach Category 5 super typhoon strength on October 24.
In its latest forecast, the NHC noted that Kristy is moving west at nearly 19 mph (31 km/h), and that this motion is expected to persist through October 24 before gradually turning west-northwest and northwest on October 25 and lasting through the weekend.
While potential Hurricane Kristy is not expected to directly impact land, meteorologists are warning of the potential for deadly rip currents in Baja California, US, this weekend.
Newsweek points out that within 72 hours, Hurricane Nadine made landfall in Belize, dissipated in Mexico and then re-strengthened into Hurricane Kristy in the Pacific.
Typically, a hurricane that crosses an ocean retains its name even as it passes over land before crossing another ocean, but AccuWeather meteorologist Isaac Longley noted that Hurricane Nadine has weakened to the point where it is no longer considered a tropical storm.
He noted that this is not a transoceanic storm because it no longer has the same intensity as before. Hurricanes that cross the ocean from the Atlantic to the Pacific are rare because the mountains in Central America often cause storm systems to break up.
Nadine is the 14th storm of the Atlantic hurricane season while Hurricane Kristy is the 11th storm of the Pacific hurricane season.
As of the evening of October 23, potential Hurricane Kristy is the only storm being tracked by the US National Hurricane Center in the eastern Pacific. The US National Hurricane Center is forecasting no major hurricanes in the Atlantic for at least the next seven days. However, AccuWeather meteorologists are monitoring an area of potential tropical depression in the western Caribbean. If the depression becomes a hurricane, it could form between October 29 and November 2. The storm's track is not likely to point toward the United States.
