Erick downgraded to tropical storm after making landfall in Mexico's western Oaxaca as Category 3 hurricane
Erick — the fifth named storm of the 2025 Eastern Pacific hurricane season — made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in southern Mexico's Oaxaca on Thursday before later being downgraded to a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center said.
The hurricane center said Thursday afternoon the storm will continue to produce heavy rainfall through the night, warning "life-threatening flooding and mudslides are likely."
The storm's center was about 35 miles north-northeast of Acapulco with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph as of Thursday afternoon, the hurricane center said. The storm was moving northwest at 12 mph.
"Continued rapid weakening is forecast, and Erick will likely dissipate tonight," the National Hurricane Center in Miami .
Earlier Thursday, before making landfall, Erick had grown to "an extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds after undergoing rapid intensification. It made landfall in the western part of Oaxaca, just east of Punta Maldonado, with sustained winds of nearly 125 mph and higher gusts. Those hurricane-force winds extended 25 miles from its center, with tropical storm-force winds extending up to 90 miles.
Erick is the first major hurricane of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season, which runs from May 15 to Nov. 30. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
According to NOAA's National Weather Service, Category 3 hurricanes with this wind strength can cause "," and can lead to power outages lasting several days to weeks.
As of Thursday afternoon, a tropical storm warning was in effect for Punta Maldonado to Tecpan de Galeana, the NHC said.
Erick's categorization on the Saffir-Simpson scale — which helps officials determine wind hazards of an approaching hurricane — only accounts for wind, and not the elements that tend to be the most deadly in cyclones.
" — storm surge and inland flooding — have historically been the leading causes of loss of life during hurricanes," NOAA says. "Hurricanes can also bring strong winds, tornadoes, rough surf and rip currents."
Erick is forecast to produce between 8 to 12 inches of rain, with maximum totals of 16 inches across the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the National Hurricane Center said, leading to "life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain." Chiapas, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco are expected to see between 2 and 4 inches of rain.
"Dangerous, life-threatening" storm surge, which is a rise in sea level during the storm, is also expected to create coastal flooding near and to the west of where the center of the storm hits land," the center said, and be accompanied by "large and destructive waves."
Acapulco, an area devastated by Hurricane Otis in October 2023, is among the areas facing impacts. Otis hit the city as a Category 5 storm and left dozens of people dead after its wind speeds increased by 115 mph in a single day — the second-fastest recorded rate in modern times, according to the National Hurricane Center.
"We are left with nothing," one woman said. "Everything is damaged."
