Hurricane Erick Makes Landfall in Mexico as Category 4 Storm
by Daniel McCarthy
Photo: National Hurricane Center
The 2025 hurricane season is well underway, and the Pacific’s first major storm made landfall in Mexico this morning.
Hurricane Erick, a Category 4 storm producing winds of up to 125 mph, made landfall over southwest Mexico, primarily the western part of Oaxaca and the eastern part of Guerrero, on Thursday morning.
According to the latest from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Erick was producing winds of 140 mph as it was moving towards Mexico’s coast Thursday morning, which would make it the first known Category 4 storm in the Pacific to make landfall in Mexico before October. The last major storm to hit the area was Hurricane Otis last October.
Early Thursday, the NHC had a Hurricane Warning in effect for the area between Acapulco and Puerto Ángel, along with a Hurricane Watch for the area west of Acapulco to Tecpan de Galeana. This includes some minor tourist towns like Puerto Ángel and Puerto Escondido.
A Tropical Storm Warning is also in effect for the areas east of Puerto Ángel to Salina Cruz and west of Acapulco to Tecpan de Galeana.
According to the NHC, Erick is expected to rapidly weaken over the mountains of Mexico, and the system is likely to dissipate tonight, or early Friday.
Travel Impact
The largest airport in the region Erick is bearing down on is Acapulco International Airport (ACA), which has suspended all commercial flights for Thursday.
