Tropical Storm Dora Weakens Off Mexico's Southwest Coast

The eastern Pacific’s first hurricane has decreased in strength and has become a tropical storm yet again as it moves on a harmless path away from Mexico. Despite its offshore track, southwest Mexico will still see a bit of impact from the storm.

Tropical Storm Dora is spinning well off the coast of Mexico. As of 3 a.m. MDT, Dora was located near 19.8 N and 113.1 W, or about 295 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Maximum sustained winds have weakened to 40 mph. Dora has a minimum central pressure of 1005 mb or 29.68 inches of mercury and is moving to the west-northwest at 10 mph.

A strong high pressure ridge north of Dora will continue to steer it away from Mexico’s mainland and the Baja California. As it moves towards the west-northwest, it will slide over cooler water, allowing it to weaken. Plus, the stable air caused by the high pressure will help weaken Dora. It will dissipate to a low pressure by the end of the day.

Even though it will not have a direct impact on Mexico, high swells will cause dangerous rip currents along the southwestern coast of the Baja California Peninsula.

This season has been quite busy so far, with two out of the four named storms impacting southwestern Mexico. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Beatriz killed seven people and caused $3.9 million in damages in southwestern Mexico.