by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:24 AM ET, Mon October 22, 2018
Update: October 24, 2018 at 8:15 a.m. ET
Former Hurricane Willa made landfall in Mexico as a Category 3 storm Tuesday, but the National Hurricane Center downgraded the weather system to a tropical depression with top sustained winds of 30 miles per hour Wednesday morning.
Forecasters believe Willa will dissipate altogether by Wednesday afternoon as it moves over west-central and northern Mexico. The remnants of the storm will bring heavy rain parts of Texas and the Southeast United States before moving north along the eastern seaboard between Virginia and New England.
According to FlightAware.com as of 8:10 a.m. ET, cancellations to the impacted region of Mexico are minimal and delays are scattered. The storm did not impact flights as heavily as expected after several major carriers started waiving change fees.
In total, over 100 flights were canceled due to the storm and more than 600 were delayed.
As for cruise passengers, at least four ships have been forced to alter their Mexican Riviera itineraries due to Willa, including the Seven Seas Mariner, Norwegian Pearl, Norwegian Bliss and Eurodam.
Update: October 23, 2018 at 3:50 p.m. ET
Hurricane Willa remains a Category 3 storm and has been measured with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour as the effects are being felt along Mexico's west-central coast. Willa will bring "life-threatening storm surge, wind and rainfall" to the region late Tuesday into Wednesday.
According to FlightAware.com as of 3:45 p.m. ET, over 100 flights to and from airports in Mexico that are being impacted by the storm have been canceled and more than 500 flights have been delayed.
Carriers in the region such as AeroMexico, Mesa, Volaris and Southwest have been hit the hardest by the delays.
Update: October 23, 2018 at 7:55 a.m. ET
As Mexico prepares for the landfall of Hurricane Willa Tuesday afternoon or evening with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour, the travel industry has started assisting impacted customers.
According to FlightAware.com as of 7:50 a.m. ET, several airlines are preemptively canceling flights to Mexican airports, including Mazatlan International Airport, Tijuana International Airport and Culiacan International Airport.
Several airlines in the United States have also started waiving change fees for customers scheduled to fly to the impacted areas along Mexico's Pacific coast, including American, Southwest and United.
Other carriers serving the region such as Mesa Airlines and Volaris are also dealing with flight cancellations Tuesday. Officials are warning travelers flying to and from Los Cabos International Airport and Puerto Vallarta International Airport they may deal with delays over the coming days.
Original Text
Travelers have been put on notice as Hurricane Willa has grown into an "extremely dangerous" near-Category 5 storm that is expected to make landfall along Mexico's western coast by Wednesday.
According to The Associated Press, the hurricane was measured with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour and was expected to make landfall between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, with hurricane warnings posted between San Blas and Mazatlan.
The United States National Hurricane Center said Willa could produce life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and rainfall of up to 18 inches in some areas of southwestern and west-central Mexico starting Tuesday.
According to FlightAware.com, the storm has not caused any flight delays or cancellations between the United States and Mexico yet, but airlines serving the region and airports in the storm's trajectory are preparing for the impact.
Carriers have not yet started issuing travel waivers for potentially impacted regions.
As for cruise passengers, Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Bliss announced changes to its current sailing, shifting north from Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas in favor of San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenada.
Cruise Critic is also reporting Holland America's Eurodam has changed its October 21 sailing to include San Francisco, San Pedro, Catalina Island and Ensenada instead of the originally scheduled Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta stops.
Other cruise lines such as Princess and Disney could also post itinerary changes.
As if the threat of Hurricane Willa wasn't enough, Tropical Storm Vicente can be found further south and could potentially bring heavy rainfall and flooding to parts of southern and southwestern Mexico.
The two storms will then move inland and could bring southern and central Texas as much as four inches of rain this week, with effects also possibly felt in Louisiana and Mississippi.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
