Medical blog

August 31st, 2009

Hurricane Jimena headed for western Mexico as a “powerful” Category 4 storm, with winds of almost 230 kilometers (145 miles) per hour, and may prompt a warning for the southern Baja California peninsula later today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The eye was about 595 kilometers south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the center said in an advisory posted on its Web site just before 7 a.m. Mexico City time. The storm was moving northwest at almost 13 kph and is forecast to make landfall on Baja California’s west coast late tomorrow and track up the peninsula. Hurricane-force winds of at least 119 kph extend 45 kilometers from the eye.

“Powerful Hurricane Jimena continues northwestward,” the center in Miami said. Residents “in the southern and central Baja California peninsula and in western mainland Mexico should monitor the progress of Jimena.”

A hurricane watch was in effect for Baja California, from Bahia Magdalena southward on the west coast of the peninsula and from San Evaristo southward on the east coast, meaning such conditions are expected within 36 hours. The watch may be upgraded to a warning, the center said. Jimena’s maximum sustained winds increased today from about 225 kph yesterday and some fluctuation in strength is possible, forecasters said.

Hurricanes become “major” when sustained winds reach 178 kph, or Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Category 4 storms have sustained winds of 210 to 249 kph and are capable of causing “devastating damage,” the center said.

Tropical Storm Kevin

Tropical Storm Kevin, which formed two days ago to the west of Jimena, was “barely a tropical storm” and is forecast to weaken into a depression today, the center said in a separate advisory. Kevin, which had sustained winds of almost 65 kph, was centered 1,435 kilometers west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California just before 4 a.m. Mexico City time. Kevin was moving north-northeast at almost 9 kph.

The hurricane center was also monitoring an area of low pressure over the Atlantic Ocean, about 600 miles east of the Windward Islands. There is a greater than 50 percent chance the system will develop into a tropical cyclone within 48 hours, the center said.

The system may pose a threat to the Lesser Antilles as it moves west-northwest at about 15 mph, the center said.

The Lesser Antilles include the U.S. Virgin and British Virgin Islands, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

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