Tropical Storm Vance weakens to Category 1 off Mexico's Pacific coast

Tropical Storm Vance weakened to Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale on Saturday afternoon, October 24, according to Mexico's National Meteorological Service. The storm continued to move over the Pacific Ocean at nine kilometers per hour toward the north-northwest.

At 4:00 p.m., the Navy Secretariat reported that Vance was located 530 kilometers south-southwest of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, and 649 kilometers south of Manzanillo, Colima. Maximum sustained winds reached 148 kilometers per hour, with gusts up to 185 kilometers per hour.

“Its circulation reinforces the probability of showers and heavy localized rain in the western and southern states of Mexico, in addition to strong winds and elevated waves on the coasts of Guerrero and Michoacán.”

The National Meteorological Service forecast heavy rainfall of 25 to 50 millimeters in Jalisco, Colima, Guerrero, and Michoacán. Scattered showers of 5 to 25 millimeters were expected in Oaxaca, while coastal waves of three to four meters were predicted along the shores of Michoacán and Guerrero.

By Monday, October 26, the storm had moved to 445 kilometers south-southwest of Manzanillo, off the coasts of Colima and Jalisco. Its circulation continued to raise the likelihood of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit.

Low-pressure channels and moisture from the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea also produced showers and heavy rain across northern, northeastern, central, eastern, southern, and southeastern Mexico, including the Yucatán Peninsula. Isolated rainfall was forecast for Mexico City, Morelos, and Tlaxcala.

Authorities warned the population about strong rains in northern states such as Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Durango, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, and Guerrero for that night and the early hours of Tuesday.