By AccuWeather senior meteorologist & AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Aug. 30, 2021 6:31 AM EDT
A day after making landfall, Nora continued to churn along the western Mexico coast on Sunday, losing its hurricane status as it unleashed high winds and a deluge of rainfall. AccuWeather meteorologists say Nora can still bring significant impacts to the country despite losing wind intensity as it tracks northward early this week.
On Saturday evening, Nora made a brief landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on the northwest coast of the Mexican state of Jalisco, where it has already damaged about 500 houses due to flooding. The center of the storm has been hugging the western coast of Mexico ever since.
Nora turned deadly on Sunday when a teenager from Spain died after a hotel partially collapsed in Puerto Vallarta amid severe flooding, The Associated Press reported. In addition, seven people are currently listed as missing -- six fisherman and one woman who went missing after her car was swept away.
Evacuations were advised early Sunday morning as Nora triggered flooding and landslides across the Jalisco area. The Cuale River became high and strong enough to sweep at least one vehicle down it with a person on board.
Clouds associated with Nora are seen across much of western Mexico on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 29, 2021. (GOES-16/CIRA at Colorado State)
As of 4 a.m. CDT Monday, Nora had lost wind intensity and was designated a tropical rainstorm by AccuWeather. Tropical Rainstorm Nora had maximum sustained winds of 30 mph (45 km/h) and was moving to the north-northwest at 9 mph (15 km/h).
As Nora continues northward, effects will be felt across western Mexico and into the Baja California Peninsula through early week.
"Heavy, flooding rainfall will impact a large portion of western Mexico over the next few days," AccuWeather Meteorologist Randy Adkins said.
Widespread rainfall amounts of 2-4 inches (50-100 mm) are expected from Guerrero northwestward across much of the Baja Peninsula, and most of Sonora. Where the heaviest rain falls, mainly near the coast from Michoacan through Colima and Jalisco, 8-12 inches (200-300 mm) of rain are expected, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 15 inches (380 mm).
"The heaviest rainfall will bring flash flooding and mudslides to northern Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa through Monday, spreading across Sonora Monday night into Tuesday," Adkins said. Mudslides can also occur in the highest terrain.
Monday and Tuesday, wind gusts of 40-60 mph (60-100 km/h) will be common as the storm continues to lose wind intensity.
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Even though Baja California Sur has been spared the brunt of the storm, the region can still experience locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds from Nora as it tracks northward early this week.
Because of the heavy rain and the threat of wind damage, Nora will be a 1 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes in Mexico.
"Despite the warm waters of the Gulf of California, dry air coming off of the surrounding deserts should help to lessen the storm's intensity," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller said.
Nora is expected to remain a tropical rainstorm through the middle of the week and tropical moisture may push into the southwestern United States and help to fuel another round of monsoonal showers and thunderstorms across the Four Corner states around the middle and end of the week.
This bout of tropical activity in the eastern Pacific comes in conjunction with Ida devastating Louisiana.
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