Hurricane Rachel formed off the coast of Mexico on Wednesday and forecasters said it could strengthen quickly into a major hurricane with winds topping 111 mph. It stayed about 200 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, and remained far offshore.
At the same time, flood warnings remained in effect in New Mexico after heavy Pacific moisture spread rain from Colorado across the Great Plains to Iowa. Acting Gov. Howie Morales declared a state of emergency, opening $3.75 million for temporary housing, healthcare, food and transportation.
Greg Lundeen in New Mexico
Greg Lundeen, a National Weather Service meteorologist, described one flooded area where water overtopped a minor dam. “There’s a lot of standing water in the fields and near some homes,” he said.
The rain helped push Albuquerque to its second wettest month ever on Wednesday, with National Weather Service records there dating back to the 1800s. Storm totals in the Amarillo, Texas, area topped 3.5 inches, and one storm there flooded streets and spawned a tornado on Tuesday night.
Howie Morales in New Mexico
Morales said the emergency declaration made money available through local governments for temporary housing, healthcare, food and transportation. The aid came as residents and farmers were dealing with flooded fields and continuing warnings after the latest round of rain.
Preston Mitchell, a Hatch Chile Association board member, said the crop damage would slow work in the fields. “There will be nobody picking chile for at least five or six days,” he said.
Hurricane Rachel and Jalisco
Mexican authorities remained on alert in Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco as Hurricane Rachel developed. Schools were closed Wednesday in 30 municipalities in Jalisco as a precautionary measure, while the storm was still described as posing no threat to land.
The broader weather pattern matched an El Niño year with above average Pacific storm activity, following Hurricane Polo’s landfall overnight Monday on the Baja California peninsula. Preston Mitchell said the flooded fields left growers with little to harvest: “All these growers whose fields were flooded, everything’s toast. Everything that’s out there is done.”
