Update 10/22: Hurricane Willa, as reported by the National Hurricane Center, is now a Category 5 hurricane.
It appears that the migrant caravan, which has been reported to upward of 10,000 strong, might run into some extra trouble on their march to seek American asylum. A massive hurricane (named Willa) is set to cross the path that the migrants will eventually cross.
There’s also a slightly smaller disturbance named Vincente to the south of Willa that meteorologists say will be consumed by the massively growing Willa, but will still pose a threat for dangerous conditions for the caravan, which has already seen its fair share of struggles with food, sanitation and organization.
Weather.com reports:
Hurricane Willa has rapidly intensified into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane and is expected to strengthen further early this week. Damaging winds, flooding rain and a potentially destructive storm surge will threaten Mexico’s Pacific coastline by midweek.
Tropical Storm Vicente also poses a heavy rain threat to Mexico in the week ahead.
Willa is tracking north-northwestward but is expected to slowly recurve toward the north Monday and the north-northeast by Tuesday. It should approach landfall along the southwestern coast of mainland Mexico by late Tuesday, which is expected to occur anywhere from near or north of Mazatlán to near Puerto Vallarta.
Hurricane Willa’s maximum sustained winds increased by 55 mph in the 24 hours ending 5 p.m. EDT Sunday. Willa’s winds increased by an additional 25 mph during the following three hours from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. EDT Sunday.
As the caravan heads north, there’s no doubt that they’ll eventually run into deteriorating conditions leftover from Willa — which we’ll soon see what level of damage it imposes upon populated areas of Mexico. The strain on resources in many areas of Mexico is already bad — let alone the possibility of being hit by a major hurricane and a large army of hungry migrants.![[Image of probabilities of 34-kt winds]](/storm_graphics/EP24/refresh/EP242018_wind_probs_34_F120+png/173645.png)
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