Carlotta Weakens to Depression; Rain Main Threat for Mexico

After quickly developing into a tropical storm last week, Carlotta weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday, with further weakening expected as it moves inland along Mexico’s western coastline.

Carlotta ceased to be a tropical storm on Sunday, as heavy rain lashed the western coast of Mexico. Central Mexico also saw heavy rain throughout the weekend, although initial reports from Mexico didn’t seem to show widespread flooding due to the storm.

The storm is expected to slowly dissipate as it moves over the mountainous terrain of western Mexico late Sunday and into Monday. Winds are becoming less of a hazard, and rain will be the main threat from the system.

That said, Carlotta became the third named storm of the already busy Eastern Pacific hurricane season last Friday, well ahead of the climatological third named storm of the season, which normally takes place around July 5th. The first two storms of the season, Aletta and Bud, morphed into major hurricanes, and the Eastern Pacific doesn’t typically see two major hurricanes until mid-August in an average season.

Fortunately, the current National Hurricane Center outlook doesn’t have any storms forecast to develop over the next five days, perhaps offering the Eastern Pacific a brief reprieve from a fast start to the hurricane season.

Stay with WeatherNation for the latest on Carlotta and the tropics.

For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Chris Bianchi