Weakened Paul approaching Mexico’s Pacific coast by Laura Gilchrist
Early on Wednesday Tropical Storm Paul was approaching Mexico’s southern Baja California peninsula.
At 10 am UK time on Wednesday, Paul was 75 miles (120 km) south of Cabo San Lucas, a holiday resort in the far south of Baja California. The storm began battering the area with heavy rain on Tuesday, and large waves were thought to have washed an American tourist out to sea. He was walking on the beach near Cabo San Lucas, and is still missing.
Paul had reached hurricane strength over the weekend, but has since weakened again and currently has steady wind speeds of around 45 mph (75 km/h). The tropical storm is not expected to make landfall on the Baja peninsula, but is forecast to head for the coast of Mexico’s state of Sinaloa.
The main threat from Paul will be from the heavy rain and coastal flooding. Paul is expected to have weakened further and become a tropical depression by landfall on Thursday, but could still produce up to 13 centimetres (5 inches) of rainfall over coastal Sinaloa, and up to 25 cm (10 in) over the Sierra Madre Occidental range of mountains further inland.
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