Mexico: Orlene makes landfall as a category 1 hurricane

UPDATE DAY

Hurricane Orlene gradually lost strength before making Category 1 landfall on Monday morning in the southern Mexican state of Sinaloa on the Pacific coast, the National Water Commission said. (Conagua).

Category 4 on Sunday on a scale of 5, Orlene made landfall at 1:45 p.m. GMT, with maximum winds of 140 km/h, 5 km off the town of Escuinapa, in southern Sinaloa, according to the same source.

The hurricane had formed on Saturday morning and its strength had gradually increased. Early Sunday morning, it had reached category 3 and had passed a few hours later to category 4. It was then described as an “extremely dangerous” hurricane. But it began to weaken on Sunday afternoon.

According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Orlene is expected to continue to weaken during the day to become a tropical storm in the afternoon and dissipating overnight or Tuesday morning.

The phenomenon will, however, bring heavy rains to southern Sinaloa state and northern neighboring state of Nayarit, according to the NHC.

Mexico's Atlantic and Pacific coasts are prone to hurricanes each year, usually between May and November. In October 1997, more than 200 people were killed when Hurricane Paulina, a category 4, hit the Pacific coast.