Tropical cyclone Vance to rapidly intensify into major hurricane as it nears Mexico

Hurricane Vance strengthened into a hurricane early Friday, October 23, and is forecast to rapidly intensify into a major Category 3 storm by Friday night as it approaches Mexico’s Pacific Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said.

Vance, the 13th hurricane in the Pacific Basin this season, had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) and was located about 440 miles (710 kilometres) south-southwest of Acapulco.

The storm was moving north-northwest at about 5 mph and is expected to approach the Puerto Vallarta area by Monday. Its outer bands were already funnelling gale-force winds and rough seas into Mexico’s Gulf of Tehuantepec.

Vance became the first V-named storm in the eastern Pacific since 2018. Forecasters say a strong Tehuantepecer wind event could help the storm continue to organise by increasing low-level spin in the atmosphere.

Vance would be the seventh major hurricane in a row this year in the Pacific, following Nolo, Odalys, Polo, Rachel, Simon and Trudy, as per the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Super Typhoon Champi remained an exceptionally powerful storm in the western Pacific after rapidly intensifying to maximum sustained winds of 185 mph with gusts to 225 mph. At that intensity, Champi tied Super Typhoon Sinlaku as the strongest storm on Earth in 2026.

The typhoon generated enormous seas, with significant wave heights near the centre reaching 69 ft.

Champi is expected to gradually weaken as it makes a close approach to Taiwan before likely curving toward Japan. A strong El Niño climate pattern has supercharged tropical development across the Pacific, with a Super El Niño expected to be declared later this year.