Storm Norma weakens near Mexico as Maria nears Caribbean

Washington: Norma weakened to a tropical storm as it moved in the direction of Mexico’s Baja California, the US National Hurricane Center said, even as Tropical Storm Maria threatened the battered Leeward islands.

Norma, which had grown to hurricane strength before tapering off on Saturday, was expected to weaken further over the next two days on a track that would put it near the southern Baja California peninsula.

As of 8pm on Saturday, the storm was some 335km south of popular resort area Los Cabos, packing winds up to 100kph and pushing North at six kilometres per hour.

It triggered tropical storm warnings, meaning a tropical storm conditions within 36 hours for parts of the peninsula, as the NHC forecast up to 508mm of rain in isolated pockets, which “may produce life-threatening flash floods”.

Another storm, Max, which made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category One hurricane on Thursday night, had largely dissipated as of Saturday.

It had threatened southern parts of the country, including the state of Oaxaca which struggles to recover after being hit by a 8.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico only last Thursday.

Last week, Hurricane Katia battered the Atlantic coast of Mexico and later blew itself out in the centre of the country without causing major damage.

At the beginning of September, Tropical Storm Lidia left seven people dead on its stormy passage through the state of Baja California.

Meanwhile, on the Atlantic side of the region, Tropical Storm Maria was gaining strength and on track to hit hurricane strength before it nears today at the Caribbean’s Leeward islands, already battered by deadly Hurricane Irma. — AFP