Hurricanes in Mexico
Hurricanes occur very often in Mexico. On average, they happen about 24 times a year. The hardest hit regions are Yucatan Peninsula, West and North.The hurricane season usually lasts from early June to late November.
The most severe hurricane to make landfall in Mexico in the past 12 months was »Roslyn«. It reached a wind speed of up to 213 km/h on October 22, 2022 at 7:00 pm local time near Tomatlán and was 54 kilometers in diameter at the time. According to the internationally accepted Saffir-Simpson classification, this corresponded to a category 4 hurricane.
Other natural hazards in Mexico:
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Back to overview: Mexico
Current hurricane: Arlene
On May 30, 2023 at 1:00 pm, hurricane »Arlene« formed in the Gulf of Mexico with an initial wind speed of 28 km/h. The storm system initially moved west at 13 km/h and reached a diameter of 259 kilometers. The storm was named Arlene on June 1, 2023 at 10:00 pm, when it was already in the mainland area of Mexico. On June 2, 2023 at 1:00 pm, it reached its highest wind speed to date of 65 kilometers per hour. This corresponds to a tropical storm.On June 3, 2023 at 1:00 pm, Arlene made landfall near the city of La Esperanza in Cuba. At that time, the hurricane had a wind speed of 46 km/h and a diameter of 259 kilometers.
Arlene has since subsided and is no longer under observation by the authorities. Its last position was about 181 km northeast of Cuba.
Current satellite image of the North Atlantic
09.06.2023 © CIMSS University of Wisconsin-Madison
Most violent hurricanes in Mexico since 2018
Roslyn: October 20-24, 2022
Wind speed:
max. 213 km/h
Diameter:
max. 259 km
Air pressure:
below 954 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
West
North
Central-North
Northeast
West
North
Central-North
Northeast
Roslyn: October 17-24, 2022
Wind speed:
max. 213 km/h
on land:
max. 194 km/h
Diameter:
max. 370 km
Eye:
max. 37 km
Air pressure:
below 954 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
Southwest
West
North
Central-North
Northeast
Southwest
West
North
Central-North
Northeast
Orlene: September 28 to October 3, 2022
Wind speed:
max. 213 km/h
on land:
max. 198 km/h
Diameter:
max. 252 km
Air pressure:
below 954 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
West
North
West
North
Orlene: September 26 to October 4, 2022
Wind speed:
max. 213 km/h
on land:
max. 148 km/h
Diameter:
max. 370 km
Air pressure:
below 949 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
North
North
Ian: September 22 to October 1, 2022
Region:
Gulf of Mexico
Wind speed:
max. 259 km/h
Diameter:
max. 845 km
Air pressure:
below 937 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 5
The hurricane did not make direct landfall in Mexico. On September 27th, 2022 at 7:00 am it had the shortest distance at about 144 km northwest of Isla Mujeres in Yucatan Peninsula.
Instead, the first landfall occurred near George Town on the Cayman Islands on September 26th at 4:00 am.
Instead, the first landfall occurred near George Town on the Cayman Islands on September 26th at 4:00 am.
Ian: September 19 to October 2, 2022
Region:
Gulf of Mexico
Wind speed:
max. 250 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1482 km
Eye:
max. 93 km
Air pressure:
below 937 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
The hurricane did not make direct landfall in Mexico. On September 27th, 2022 at 1:00 am it had the shortest distance at about 302 km west of Isla Mujeres in Yucatan Peninsula.
Instead, the first landfall occurred near San Luis in Cuba on September 27th at 1:00 am.
Instead, the first landfall occurred near San Luis in Cuba on September 27th at 1:00 am.
Nora: August 24-30, 2021
Wind speed:
max. 139 km/h
Diameter:
max. 741 km
Air pressure:
below 976 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 1
Affected regions
Southwest
West
North
Southwest
West
North
Marty: August 23-27, 2021
Wind speed:
max. 74 km/h
on land:
max. 69 km/h
Diameter:
max. 741 km
Air pressure:
below 1002 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Baja California
Baja California
Kevin: August 6-15, 2021
Wind speed:
max. 102 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1222 km
Air pressure:
below 994 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
West
Baja California
West
Baja California
Iota: November 12-18, 2020
Region:
Caribbean Sea
Wind speed:
max. 250 km/h
on land:
max. 120 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1000 km
Air pressure:
below 917 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
Yucatan Peninsula
Southwest
Yucatan Peninsula
Southwest
Eta: October 31 to November 14, 2020
Region:
Gulf of Mexico
Wind speed:
max. 241 km/h
on land:
max. 93 km/h
Diameter:
max. 815 km
Air pressure:
below 922 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
Yucatan Peninsula
Southwest
Yucatan Peninsula
Southwest
Zeta: October 24-30, 2020
Region:
Gulf of Mexico
Wind speed:
max. 185 km/h
on land:
max. 139 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1667 km
Air pressure:
below 970 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 3
Affected regions
Yucatan Peninsula
Yucatan Peninsula
Delta: October 4-11, 2020
Region:
Gulf of Mexico
Wind speed:
max. 222 km/h
on land:
max. 176 km/h
Diameter:
max. 852 km
Air pressure:
below 953 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
Yucatan Peninsula
Yucatan Peninsula
Lowell: September 20-27, 2020
Wind speed:
max. 83 km/h
on land:
max. 46 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1111 km
Air pressure:
below 1001 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
West
West
Beta: September 17-25, 2020
Region:
Gulf of Mexico
Wind speed:
max. 102 km/h
on land:
max. 87 km/h
Diameter:
max. 741 km
Air pressure:
below 993 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
East
Northeast
Yucatan Peninsula
East
Northeast
Yucatan Peninsula
Laura: August 20-29, 2020
Region:
Gulf of Mexico
Wind speed:
max. 241 km/h
on land:
max. 124 km/h
Diameter:
max. 741 km
Air pressure:
below 937 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
Yucatan Peninsula
Yucatan Peninsula
Genevieve: August 16-22, 2020
Wind speed:
max. 213 km/h
on land:
max. 167 km/h
Diameter:
max. 556 km
Eye:
max. 93 km
Air pressure:
below 950 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
Baja California
Baja California
Cristobal: June 1-12, 2020
Region:
Gulf of Mexico
Wind speed:
max. 93 km/h
Diameter:
max. 815 km
Air pressure:
below 982 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Yucatan Peninsula
Yucatan Peninsula
Amanda: May 30-31, 2020
Wind speed:
max. 65 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1111 km
Air pressure:
below 1003 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Southwest
Southwest
Juliette: September 1-9, 2019
Wind speed:
max. 204 km/h
Diameter:
max. 222 km
Air pressure:
below 953 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 3
The hurricane did not make direct landfall in Mexico. On September 1st, 2019 at 1:00 pm it had the shortest distance at about 611 km southeast of San Patricio in West.
These evaluations are based on data from the National Centers for Environmental Information of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Individual data have been summarized or translated.