Hurricane Newton approaching Baja California

People in Cabo San Lucas watch the waves during Hurricane Odile in 2014.

(Image credit: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

published 6 September 2016

Baja California is bracing for Hurricane Newton, which started the day as a tropical storm bringing heavy rains to the Mexican states of Michoacan and Guerrero.

The U.S National Hurricane Center said Newton is a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, and it is centered about 160 miles southeast of the Los Cabos resort towns. Forecasters say Newton is expected to hit Tuesday morning, and residents of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo spent Monday putting plywood over their windows and preparing for a possible direct hit, The Associated Press reports. Two years ago, the area experienced a major storm when Hurricane Odile struck as a Category 3, causing billions of dollars in damages and leading to multiple deaths.

Newton is expected to cross over Mexico to the Gulf of California on Wednesday, and will most likely make its way to Arizona later in the week as a tropical depression. In the eastern United States, life-threatening rip currents are being caused by the remnants of former Hurricane Hermine. The National Weather Service said the storm is expected to "meander slowly offshore of the New England coast through Tuesday."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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