Tropical Depression Paul

AT 9AM MDT FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER IN MIAMI...

PAUL WEAKENS TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION AS THE CENTER MOVES ALONG THE COAST OF BAJA CALIFORNIA DEL SUR...

CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY...

THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO HAS CANCELED ALL WATCHES AND WARNINGS ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL CYCLONE PAUL.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT...

NONE

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 9:32 AM MDT Tropical Depression Paul is burning out as it heads back toward the Pacific. Tropical Storm Paul is currently about 85 miles south of Punta Eugenia, very close to San ignacio this morning expected to head out into the cold waters of the Pacific later today.

Hurricane Paul at 9AM MDT located near 27.0N 114.1W and is moving 315° at 10kts. Central barometric pressure is estimated at 1001Mb and winds are 30kts with gusts to 40kts, making Paul just short of tropical storm intensity.

Hurricane Paul came ashore as a Category 1 Hurricane near Magdalena Bay on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur yesterday afternoon. More than 300 people in the small town of San Carlos were in government shelters as of 6PM last night.

The central valley city of Constitucion reported 45 people in shelters and multiple closures of Hwy 1 between Constitucion and Insurgentes for flooding. Between Insurgentes and Loreto two bridges had damage to the approaches and the arroyo was too flooded for passage.

About 6PM Tuesday flooding near the town of Santa Rosalia washed out part of Hwy 1 and broke the main fiber optic cable feeding most of Baja California Sur. Cellular and internet communications were cut off for about 10hrs. Telmex required the assistance of the Navy to recover the broken cable from the arroyo and repaired the cable restoring internet and cellular service early Wednesday morning.

We regret that we were knocked off line and unable to report the late hours of the storm, but were report live from La Paz, Baja California Sur.

Paul will move out to sea later this morning and dissipate withing the next 24hrs. No further updates to this page will be posted until historical data is available.

One of the factors leading to the late season landfall of this tropical cyclone is the waters in the storm's path are as much as 8°F warmer than normal. In the past week the sea surface temperatures along the western shore increased, when normally by this time of year temperatures are on the wane.

It was the speed of which this storm moved and the rapid intensification of the storm on Monday that allowed Paul to 'drag' the sustaining environment northward into Baja, after most of the weather factors indicated the end of our hurricane season.

Color Enhanced Image of Hurricane Paul at its peak
(Click to Enlarge)