Hurricane Trudy Is a Category 3 Off Mexico's Pacific Coast, and Its Eye Is Headed Toward Land This Weekend

The Pacific hurricane season delivered another major storm overnight. Hurricane Trudy strengthened to Category 3 intensity early Friday off Mexico's Pacific coast, becoming a major hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in advisories reported by the Associated Press. Trudy was moving slowly toward the northwest at about 6 mph.

Where Trudy is, and where it is going

As of the early Friday advisory, Trudy's center sat about 260 miles southwest of Acapulco and about 365 miles south-southeast of Manzanillo, two of the best-known resort and port cities on Mexico's Pacific shore. That position puts the storm offshore for now, but not for long: forecasters expect Trudy to continue strengthening over the next couple of days, and the current track brings the storm's eye close to the coast of southwestern and west-central Mexico on Saturday.

A slow-moving major hurricane approaching the coast is the combination forecasters worry about most. At 6 mph, Trudy has time to organize over warm water, and communities from Guerrero through Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco will be watching the Saturday approach closely. Mexican authorities typically begin issuing their own watches and warnings as a storm of this strength closes in, and residents in the path should follow local guidance as the weekend forecast firms up.

The danger arrives before the eye does

Even while Trudy remains offshore, its effects are already reaching the coast. The National Hurricane Center has warned that swells generated by the storm will affect southwestern and west-central Mexico over the next few days, bringing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. The center's tropical analysis branch noted peak seas around the storm approaching 28 feet while Trudy was still intensifying. Beachgoers and mariners along the affected coastline should treat the ocean as dangerous well before any rain or wind arrives.

Trudy is the latest chapter in a busy and destructive Pacific season. According to the season summary maintained from official records, the 2026 Pacific season has produced 23 systems so far, including Category 5 Hurricane Polo in September and Category 3 Hurricane Rachel, whose remnants pushed flooding rain into the U.S. Southwest earlier this month. Trudy itself formed on October 13 and has steadily intensified since, reaching a central pressure around 956 millibars at Category 3 strength.

Two more systems in the same ocean

Trudy is not alone in the Pacific. To its northwest, Tropical Storm Simon was carrying 45 mph winds early Friday and was forecast to weaken into a remnant low. Simon had earlier been a far stronger storm at its peak, and its moisture has already been part of this month's Southwest weather story. Farther west, Tropical Storm Champi was moving west-northwest east of Guam at about 12 mph with winds increasing to roughly 52 mph. A typhoon warning was in effect for Guam and Rota, with a tropical storm warning for Tinian, Saipan and nearby areas.

What happens next

The next 24 hours will decide how serious Trudy becomes for Mexico's coast. If the strengthening trend continues, Trudy could approach land as a powerful major hurricane on Saturday, and the exact landfall zone — still uncertain this far out — will determine which cities face the worst wind, rain and storm surge. Previously will update this story as new National Hurricane Center advisories arrive. For more of our weather and storm coverage, see our latest news and the earlier reporting on Hurricanes Simon and Rachel.