Tropical Storm Rosa has formed off the Pacific coast Tuesday and has quickly strengthened. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Rosa is forecast to become a hurricane overnight and could become a major hurricane by Thursday. Forecasters say it will remain far offshore.
Rosa’s maximum sustained winds increased to 65 mph and was located about 445 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, the NHC said in an advisory late Tuesday. The storm was moving west-northwest at about 9 mph with tropical storm-force winds reaching outward up to 60 miles from the center.
NHC said there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect. However, swells generated by Rosa will affect portions of the coast of southwestern Mexico and the southern Baja California Peninsula later this week into the weekend. “These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” they said.
Meanwhile, record flooding is likely on the South Carolina coast in wake of Hurricane Florence. The NHC said a broad area of low pressure about 300 miles south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is producing showers and thunderstorms on its north side. Officials say it could become a tropical depression Tuesday as it approaches the coast and will dump rain on coastal areas of North and South Carolina.
Florence made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Sept. 14. Economic research firm Moody’s Analytics estimated that the storm has caused around $44 billion in damage and lost output, one of the 10 costliest hurricanes to hit the U.S. The worst disaster, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, cost $192.2 billion in today’s dollars. Last year’s Hurricane Harvey cost $133.5 billion.
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