Trudy, the Pacific storm that has rattled forecasters for days, sharpened into a Category 3 hurricane early Friday, its eye now a blistering 120‑mph vortex 250 miles southwest of Acapulco and 355 miles southeast of Manzanillo, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The agency also projected a 6‑mph northwest track, indicating the eye could slice through the poorer fishing communities along the coast.
One family in Zihuatanejo, the smallest town on the warning line, packed their car and moved to a shelter at the high school as the winds threatened to tear roofs off houses, said local mayor Carlos Ruiz.
Simultaneously, Tropical Storm Simon sits northwest of Trudy, its 45‑mph winds already eroding the Gulf of California's reefs, and across the Pacific, Tropical Storm Champi drifts east of Guam with 52‑mph gusts, prompting a typhoon warning for the Marianas, the US Navy said.
Local authorities are monitoring Trudy's path closely; if the storm stalls, the National Weather Service predicts a surge of 4‑6 feet on the coast by Saturday, officials said, and residents are urged to secure property and stay indoors until the warning lapses.