Trudy weakened to a tropical storm off Mexico on Oct. 19, with coastal warnings lifted but hazardous surf still possible, while separate flooding on Greece’s Rhodes island left one person dead.
At 11 a.m. ET (15:00 UTC) Oct. 19, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) placed Trudy 190 miles (310 kilometers) west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes. Its sustained winds were 60 mph (95 km/h), and no coastal watches or warnings remained. The center said swells could bring dangerous surf and rip currents to parts of Mexico’s southwest and west-central coast.
At 11 p.m. ET Oct. 17 (03:00 UTC Oct. 18), Trudy had winds of 100 mph (155 km/h), and a hurricane warning covered the coast from Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes. The NHC forecast four to eight inches of rain along and near the southwest Mexican coast in Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco through the weekend, with isolated totals near 12 inches. Those amounts were forecasts, not measured rainfall.
The NHC had earlier classified Trudy as a Category 3 hurricane, as described in earlier coverage of its Category 3 strength.
On Rhodes, local outlet Dimokratiki reported that flooding killed one person on Oct. 14. Rhodes Mayor Alexandros Koliadis confirmed the death in a municipal statement.
The National Observatory of Athens measured 202 millimeters of rain at a Rhodes station between 11:30 p.m. ET Oct. 13 (03:30 UTC Oct. 14) and 5:50 a.m. ET (09:50 UTC) Oct. 14. By the end of that period, the station had recorded 264 millimeters since the start of Oct. 14 in Greece. A separate gauge at Steni on Evia measured 295 millimeters over Oct. 13-14, through 10:40 a.m. ET (14:40 UTC) Oct. 14.
Rhodes officials urged residents to limit travel and avoid flooded roads on Oct. 14, then kept schools closed Oct. 15 for damage inspections. Greece’s Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said on Oct. 14 that Evia, the Sporades and the South Aegean region had been under heightened “Red code” mobilization since Oct. 13.
The NHC said southwesterly winds aloft and dry air entering Trudy’s center likely contributed to its weakening. It expected the storm to become post-tropical by early Oct. 20 and scheduled its next advisory for 5 p.m. ET (21:00 UTC) Oct. 19.
