A Massive Hurricane Just Slammed Into Cabo

Hurricane Odile is the strongest storm on record to hit the resort town…and just the latest monster storm from the Eastern Pacific this year.

Tourists in a shelter at a Los Cabos resort. Victor R. Caviano/AP


Up until now, the records set by the stunning 2014 Eastern Pacific hurricane season have been mostly academic. The storms have been strong and numerous, but they’ve been out at sea off the west coast of Mexico, and haven’t caused much damage.

That changed today, however, with Hurricane Odile—a Category 3 monster that slammed Cabo San Luca early Monday morning, only slightly weaker than its peak Category 4 strength. According to the National Hurricane Center, Odile tied a 1967 storm for the distinction of being the “the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the satellite era in the state of Baja California Sur.” Capital Weather Gang’s Jason Samenow adds that Odile’s “size, strength, and track is a worst case scenario for this region.”

At landfall, the storm had maximum sustained winds speeds of 125 miles per hour. It seems likely that it was the strongest storm on record to strike the posh resort of Cabo San Lucas: The aforementioned 1967 storm, Hurricane Olivia, took quite a different route across the Baja peninsula. It did not strengthen to its peak until it was already in the Gulf of California, between Baja and the Mexican mainland. Samenow quotes Brian McNoldy, an expert on tropical weather for Capital Weather Gang, who observes of Odile that “specifically in Cabo San Lucas, it was the most intense landfall.”

The result? Here’s a firsthand account from a storm chaser, Josh Morgerman, who was seeking refuge in a hotel:

[A]t maybe midnight… BOOM!!!!! The entire glass wall of the lobby EXPLODED– with glass, pieces of building, everything flying to the other end of the lobby. Like an explosion in an action movie. A hotel worker and I ducked under the reception counter– I physically grabbed his head and pushed it under the counter. Glass was everywhere– my leg gashed– blood. We crawled into the office– me, the worker, and the manager– but the ceiling started to lift up. After five minutes of debate– breathing hard like three trapped animals– we made a run for it– went running like HELL across the lobby– which is now basically just OUTSIDE– and made it to the stairwell and an interior hallway. Two nice women dressed my wound….

Here’s an image of tourists huddling in a hotel stairwell:

Tourists take refuge from Hurricane Odile in a concrete resort stairwell. Victor R. Caviano/AP

As the Weather Underground’s Jeff Masters points out, if there is one more Category 3 or higher hurricane this year in the Eastern Pacific, it will tie the all-time record of eight such major hurricanes in one season, set in 1992. And there’s still roughly a third of the season to go.

Here’s what Odile looked like yesterday, shortly before landfall:

Hurricane Odile on September 4. NASA.

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate