Tropical Storm Otis strengthens to hurricane ahead of expected landfall near Mexico's Acapulco

MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Otis strengthened to a hurricane Tuesday as it approached Mexico’s southern Pacific coast where it was forecast to make landfall near the resort of Acapulco late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that Otis was about 145 miles south-southeast of Acapulco on Tuesday with wind of 80 mph. It was moving north-northwest at 7 mph.

There was a hurricane warning in effect from Punta Maldonado to Zihuatanejo.

Hurricane #Otis forms south of Mexico pic.twitter.com/g9S1Q9AlE7

— Zoom Earth (@zoom_earth) October 24, 2023

Otis was expected to dump five to 10 inches of rain on the southern state of Guerrero with as much as 15 inches possible in some areas. That raised the possibility of mudslides in Guerrero’s steep mountainous terrain.

In the Atlantic, Hurricane Tammy continued moving northeastward over open water with winds of 75 mph after sweeping through the Lesser Antilles over the weekend. Tammy was located about 580 miles south-southeast of Bermuda. The storm was expected to weaken by Thursday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.