Hurricane Erick is nearing a destructive landfall in southern Mexico at Category 4 intensity with life-threatening storm surge, rainfall flooding and high winds.

Erick rapidly intensified from a 40 mph tropical storm Tuesday morning to Cat. 4 intensity at midnight Thursday morning. Just hours from landfall, Erick may be the first known Cat. 4 E. Pacific hurricane to landfall in Mexico prior to October in records dating to the late 1950s.

Erick became the Eastern Pacific's second hurricane of the season early Wednesday morning, almost four weeks ahead of the season's average second hurricane pace. The season's fifth storm has historically formed by July 23, based on the 1991-2020 average.

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2025-06-19-hurricane-erick-landfall-mexico-cat4

A hurricane warning is in effect for a 500km-stretch (300 miles) of Pacific coast, from the resort town of Acapulco to Puerto Ángel.

Residents in Guerrero and Oaxaca have been warned of life-threatening floods and swells.

"If you are in low-lying areas, near rivers, near waterways, it is best for you to go to shelters, to the shelters that have already been set up for this situation," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said.

People living in mountainous areas have been told to beware of possible mudslides.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg9wprprxyo