Tropical Storm Trudy strengthened in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, and the National Hurricane Center expects it to become a hurricane tonight as it turns toward the coast of southwestern Mexico.
In its Advisory Number 5, issued at 1500 UTC on Wednesday, the center placed Trudy near 11.5 degrees north, 99.5 degrees west — about 375 miles south of Acapulco and 610 miles south-southeast of Manzanillo — with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and a minimum central pressure of 998 millibars. The storm was moving west-northwest at 13 mph, with tropical-storm-force winds extending up to 80 miles from the centre.
Forecasters expect a turn toward the northwest by tonight and toward the north-northwest on Thursday, bringing Trudy toward the southwestern Mexican coast by Saturday. Rapid strengthening is forecast over the next couple of days, and the storm is expected to reach major-hurricane strength on Friday.
No coastal watches or warnings were in effect at the time of the advisory, but the center said watches will likely be required later today or tonight for parts of southwestern and west-central Mexico, and urged residents in those regions to keep monitoring the system.
