Norbert gaining little strength.
At 800 am PDT the center of Hurricane Norbert was located near latitude 20.6 north…longitude 113.4 west or about 275 miles…445 km…southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Norbert is moving toward the north near 10 mph…17 km/hr. A turn toward the north-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected tonight. A faster motion towards the northeast is expected on Saturday. On this track…the center of Norbert will be nearing the southern Baja California peninsula Saturday morning.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 100 mph…160km/hr…with higher gusts. Norbert is now a category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Some weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours before Norbert reaches the Baja California coast. An Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate Norbert around midday.
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 miles…55 km…from the center…and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles…220 km. Norbert is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 4 to 6 inches over southern Baja California as well as portions of northwestern Mexico…with possible isolated amounts of 10 inches. These rains could result in life-threatening flash floods and mud slides. Storm surge flooding of 2 to 5 feet above normal tide levels…along with large and dangerous battering waves…is expected along the West Coast of the southern Baja Peninsula near and to the southeast of where Norbert makes landfall.
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At the last computer models we checked a shift of all predicted hurricane path to the north happens. This means that we will get “only” some rain while the direct force of the hurricane is further north.
