The latest hurricane information from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Hurricane Kristy has rapidly strengthened into a major storm and is currently forecast to reach the intensity of a Category 5 super typhoon as it moves further off 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. Hurricane Nadine made landfall near Belize City, Belize, on the afternoon of October 19, bringing strong winds. After moving inland across Central America and Mexico, the storm weakened and dissipated on October 20. The remnants of Hurricane Nadine later revived as Hurricane Kristy off the Pacific coast of southern Mexico.
Since this is not Nadine's original circulation, the US National Hurricane Center has renamed the storm according to the 2024 eastern Pacific hurricane season naming list.
Hurricane Kristy rapidly intensified. The remnants of Hurricane Nadine reorganized on October 21 and officially became Hurricane Kristy on the afternoon of October 22. After that, the storm quickly strengthened and quickly became a major storm. On the evening of October 23, Kristy was a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 250 km/h, just 3 km/h away from reaching the intensity of a Category 5 super typhoon. The US National Hurricane Center predicts that the latest storm will continue to strengthen and reach the intensity of a Category 5 super typhoon on October 24.
In the latest hurricane forecast, the NHC noted that Kristy is moving westward at a speed of nearly 31 km/h and this movement is expected to last until October 24, then gradually turn west-northwest and northwest on October 25 and last until the end of the week.
Although the potential super typhoon Kristy is not expected to make landfall directly, meteorologists warn of the possibility of causing deadly offshore flows in Baja California, USA this weekend.
Newsweek pointed out that within 72 hours, Nadine made landfall in Belize, dissipated in Mexico and then strengthened into Hurricane Kristy in the Pacific Ocean.
Normally, a storm that crosses an ocean retains its name even when it crosses the mainland before crossing another ocean, but AccuWeather meteorologist Isaac Longley notes that Nadine has weakened to the point where it is no longer considered a tropical storm.
He noted that this is not a transcontinental storm because it no longer maintains its previous intensity. Storms crossing the ocean from the Atlantic to the Pacific are rare because the mountains in Central America often cause storm systems to break down.
Nadine is the 14th storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, while Hurricane Kristy is the 11th of the eastern Pacific hurricane season.
As of the evening of October 23, superstorm Kristy is likely to become the only storm monitored by the US National Hurricane Center in the eastern Pacific. The US National Hurricane Center predicts that there will be no more major hurricanes in the Atlantic for at least the next seven days. However, AccuWeather meteorologists are monitoring an area that could potentially become a tropical depression in the western Caribbean. If it strengthens into a storm, it could form between October 29 and November 2. The storm's path may not be towards the United States.
