TROPICAL storm Lester is carrying heavy rains and strong winds toward Mexico’s Pacific coast today, with meteorologists predicting it will make landfall over the weekend, US and Mexican authorities said.

The storm is expected to trigger torrential rains in Mexico’s southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, as well as gusts of wind and high waves in coastal areas, according to Mexico’s National Meteorological Service.

“Heavy rains from Lester will reach portions of coastal southern Mexico during the next few hours, increasing in coverage and intensity today, spreading farther west on Sunday,” the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a statement.

“This rainfall may produce flash and urban flooding, along with possible mudslides in areas of higher coastal terrain,” it added. Lester was 345km southwest of Mexico’s resort town of Acapulco as of 7pm.

The storm had reached maximum sustained winds of 65kph, the NHC said.

Authorities in Guerrero had set up about 600 emergency shelters in vulnerable areas and advised locals to be ready to evacuate, local media reported.

They also ordered ports to be closed as waves reached 4m high in some areas.

Mexico is regularly hit by tropical cyclones on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, usually between May and November.

In October 1997, Hurricane Pauline struck Mexico’s Pacific coast as a category 4 storm, leaving more than 200 dead, with the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero the worst affected. – AFP, September 17, 2022.