Hurricane Willa roars into Mexico

Hurricane Willa’s powerful winds eased slightly Tuesday before it made landfall at about 8:30 EDT on the west coast of Mexico just south of Mazatlan, still a strong Category 3 storm with winds of 120 mph.

The storm, which had briefly reached Category 5 status Monday, was forecast to make landfall late Tuesday afternoon or early evening.

“Willa is expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the coast of Mexico,” the National Hurricane Center warned.

The hurricane was forecast to produce an “extremely dangerous” storm surge along portions of the coast of southwestern Mexico in southern Sinaloa and Nayarit, especially just south of where the center of Willa makes landfall, the hurricane center said. Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by “large and destructive” waves.

Willa is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 6 to

12 inches. Local amounts to 18 inches are possible across portions of western Jalisco, western Nayarit, southern Sinaloa and far southern Durango in Mexico.

“This rainfall will cause life-threatening flash flooding and landslides,” the hurricane center said.

Willa was forecast to weaken rapidly as it moved inland, likely becoming a tropical storm or tropical depression during the day Wednesday.

Still, as it slides inland, Willa is expected to produce rainfall amounts of

1 to 3 inches across the rest of Durango and portions of Zacateca, southeast Chihuahua and Coahuila; local amounts to 5 inches are possible.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said he ordered the National Emergency Committee to take the “necessary preventive measures to safeguard the population” in the path of the storm.

Authorities rushed to evacuate lowlying areas and set up shelters amid a stretch of high-rise resorts, surfing beaches and fishing villages.

Since the track of the storm is across northern Mexico, Willa is unlikely to have a major impact on the migrant caravan marching through the far southern part of the nation, roughly 1,000 miles away from where the storm hits.

AccuWeather meteorologist Steve Travis said the 7,000-strong migrant caravan making its way north through Mexico to the U.S. border was probably too far east to feel the direct effects of Willa.