The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) today issued a warning that Hurricane Orlene was gathering strength on Saturday while moving on a northeasterly course over the eastern Pacific Ocean.
It's currently classified as a Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained wind velocity near 115 mph and even stronger gusts. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles from the storm's center, while tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from its center.
The storm is expected to weaken over the next day or so but is still forecast to be a strong hurricane when its center passes near or over Las Islas Marias on Sunday night or Monday morning.
Las Islas Marias is a small cluster of islands situated about 62 miles off the coast of the Mexican state of Nayarit and about 230 miles from the southeast tip of the Baja California peninsula. Formerly used as a penal colony, the archipelago is being reimagined as an eco-friendly tourist destination. According to Lonely Planet, it's actually also a designated UNESCO world heritage site filled with colorful coral reefs, mangrove forests and rare species of wildlife.
While it may weaken from Category 3, Orlene is predicted to remain a hurricane by the time the storm reaches the coast of Mexico's mainland, which is expected to occur sometime Monday or Monday night. A hurricane warning is currently in effect for Las Islas Marias and the coast of the Mexican mainland from San Blas to Mazatlan.
Orlene is expected to drop between six and ten inches of rain, with local amounts up to 14 inches, on Las Islas Marias; three to six inches with local amounts of 10 inches on Nayarit and Sinoloa; and one to three inches with local amounts up to five inches in Jalisco and Colima. "These rainfall amounts will likely lead to flash flooding, as well as possible landslides in areas of rugged terrain," the NHC advisory warned. It also cautioned that large surf swells generated by the storm are, "likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions," over the next couple of days.
Puerto Vallarta has closed its seaport to all maritime traffic today as a precaution, the Associated Press reported. Also, some major U.S. airlines have issued change-fee waivers due to the hurricane that's heading now towards Mexico's southwest coast. Delta Air Lines is the only one of the Big Four that has yet to address the potential impact of the storm on its routes.
United Airlines will waive change fees and any fare differences on flights departing on or before October 9, subject to certain terms and conditions, of course. The airports covered under its Hurricane Orlene waiver are Puerto Vallarta (PVR), Mazatlan (MZT) and Manzanillo (ZLO).
Southwest Airlines has advised customers that its service to Puerto Vallarta may be disrupted from October 2-4 and issued a change-fee waiver for affected passengers, as long as they rebook their flight between the originally selected city-pairs within 14 days of their original travel date.
American Airlines has also issued a travel alert and change-fee waiver for flights to Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan provided passengers purchased their tickets on or before September 30 for travel from October 1-4. Affected customers will have to rebook their flight in the same fare class and for travel between the original origin and destination cities. Changes must be booked by October 4 for travel within one year of the original departure date, and customers will have to pay any price differences between the original and rebooked fares.
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