A Mexico Correspondent Says Big Hurricanes Now Come Every Season
Hurricane Simon, with winds that could reach 220 kilometers an hour, skirted Jalisco and led one airline to halt flights to Puerto Vallarta.
Global News Podcast · Houthis attack Saudi airport for third time in four daysWill Grant, a correspondent who has covered Mexico since 2011, says a big hurricane story came "every couple of years" when he arrived, but "Now it feels like every single time that hurricane season comes around."
Hurricane Simon showed what that means. Skirting about 60 to 70 kilometers off Jalisco and moving parallel to the coast, with winds that could reach 220 kilometers an hour, it dumped heavy rain without making landfall. President Claudia Sheinbaum told people in four coastal states to remain inside, marines and civil protection teams deployed, and homeowners boarded up houses. One main national airline had stopped flying to Puerto Vallarta and smaller coastal airports, and Grant said he expected others to follow.
Grant described the storms as "a constant background mood music." He said if it is not Mexico, it is the Gulf, Cuba, or Haiti, and that the storms have gotten "worse and worse" in both magnitude and frequency.
Questions people ask
When is hurricane season in Mexico?
Hurricane season in the eastern Pacific generally runs from mid-May through the end of November, with the peak in August and September. The Atlantic season runs from June through November. Most major Mexican impacts happen in those windows.
Is climate change making these hurricanes worse?
Warm ocean water fuels hurricanes, so warmer seas can help storms grow stronger and hold more rain. Scientists also link climate change to faster intensification and heavier rainfall, though the number of storms in a given year can vary naturally.