Hurricane Bud headed to mainland
By Ed Kociela The first hurricane of the season is chugging towards the southwestern Mexican coast. Hurricane Bud is now classified as a major hurricane after building intensity for several days off the coast of Mexico, about 170 miles southwest of Manzanillo, which is about 200 miles south of Puerto Vallarta. Los Cabos is not expected to be affected by the storm. However, the National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for the coast of Mexico from Manzanillo northwestward to Cabo Corrientes. Maximum sustained winds have...
read moreBud now category 2 hurricane
By Ed Kociela Hurricane Bud has been downgraded to a category 2 storm. Although it has weakened slightly, it is still expected to be problematic when it makes landfall later today near Manzanillo, about 200 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, according to news reports. Because it is such a slow-moving front, it will linger along the coastline and dump considerable rain, with 6 to 8 inches expected in most places and as much as 15 inches forecast in isolated areas. That means much of Manzanillo could experience flooding and mudslides. The Los...
read moreHurricane Bud churns toward mainland
By Ed Kociela The first hurricane of the season is chugging towards the southwestern Mexican coast. Hurricane Bud is now classified as a major hurricane after building intensity for several days off the coast of Mexico, about 170 miles southwest of Manzanillo, which is about 200 miles south of Puerto Vallarta. Los Cabos is not expected to be affected by the storm. However, the National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for the coast of Mexico from Manzanillo northwestward to Cabo Corrientes. Maximum sustained winds have...
read morePancho, the bandit sea lion, gets reprieve
By Ed Kociela I love Willie Nelson, and one of my favorite songs of his is “Pancho and Lefty,” especially the version I found on YouTube of him doing the song with Bob Dylan. The thing is, I couldn’t get that song out of my head after a recent trip to the Cabo San Lucas marina. You see, Pancho is the name of a wayward sea lion that lives in the marina at Cabo San Lucas. Pancho was in hot water with the local fishing charter captains not long ago because he had taken to climbing aboard their boats and raiding their bait tanks. He had done a...
read moreSecond Pacific tropical storm of season named
By Ed Kociela The second tropical storm of the 2012 hurricane season has been named in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Tropical Storm Bud is building down the western coast of mainland Mexico, about 600 miles south of Manzanillo. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 40 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center, with additional strengthening expected during the next couple of days. There is a possibility of Bud turning into a hurricane on Wednesday. The projected path will lead the storm onto shore well away from Los Cabos. There are no...
read moreThe race is on to finish G20 site
By Ed Kociela On a hilltop overlooking the city of San Jose del Cabo, work crews are hustling furiously to finish construction of a convention center where the world’s top leaders will gather in mid-June for the G20 Summit. They’ve already had one pre-meeting here. A couple months ago, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in town to take part in some sessions running up to the G20 Summit and to sign some sort of an oil deal with Mexico. The city was buttoned up pretty good for her visit, with local, state, and federal police all over...
read more