Tropical Storm Blanca hits Baja California, weakens further
Jun 8, 2015, 3:00 PM
A woman takes photos at El Medano Beach before the arrival of Hurricane Blanca in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Sunday, June 7, 2015. Hurricane Blanca was downgraded to a tropical storm as it neared the Baja California Peninsula, where residents boarded up home and storefront windows in preparation for the heavy rains and high winds that were forecast to lash a wide area including the resorts of Los Cabos. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Blanca rolled into the Baja California Peninsula on Monday, with rains and high winds expected to lash a wide area even as the system continued to lose strength.
Only recently a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 130 mph (215 kph), Blanca had faded to a tropical storm by the time it made landfall. It was downgraded to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) in the afternoon, and was expected to be a remnant low by Tuesday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast that rain associated with the storm would begin to fall in the U.S. Southwest later Monday.
Tropical storm warnings and watches were lifted for the entire peninsula including its southern tip, where the resort region of Los Cabos was battered by Hurricane Odile last September. Local media said there were some flooded streets and scattered power outages in Los Cabos, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.
Blanca is the earliest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall on the peninsula, according to the Hurricane Center. The storm’s center was about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Santa Rosalia in the afternoon, heading north-northwest at 17 mph (28 kph).
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
