Hurricane Genevieve Escalates to Category 4 in the Pacific, Yet No Land Threat Looms

On Sunday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that Hurricane Genevieve had jumped to a full‑blown Category 4, packing sustained winds of about 140 mph (220 km/h). That makes it a “major” hurricane – anything from Category 3 upward – and it was located roughly 530 miles (855 km) southwest of the Mexican port of Manzanillo.

Even with that power, Genevieve is tracking west‑northwest at a lazy 14 mph (22 km/h), keeping a wide berth from the coastline. No watches or warnings are in place for any Mexican communities, and the storm’s eye is expected to stay well out at sea, running parallel to the shore.

What’s not staying far away are the swells. The massive storm is already sending life‑threatening surf and rip‑current conditions toward Mexico’s southwestern beaches, and those waves are likely to slam the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula later Sunday night or early Monday.

Forecasters say Genevieve could still muster a little more strength before it begins to weaken sometime mid‑week, a typical pattern for hurricanes out over the open Pacific.

Further north, another system, Hurricane Fausto, is losing steam. Fausto, once a solid Category 2, has been downgraded to Category 1 with 85‑mph (140 km/h) winds and is drifting westward about 825 miles (1,330 km) east of Hilo, Hawaii. While it’s expected to drop to tropical‑storm status in the coming days, it may still toss up sizable surf for parts of the Hawaiian Islands.