Hurricane Kristy Sparks Deadly Rip Current Warning for Baja California

Experts forecast Hurricane Kristy will stay far off land, but the major hurricane is expected to spark deadly rip currents later this week.
Hurricane Kristy was classified as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph on Wednesday morning. The storm became a major hurricane after it underwent rapid intensification, in which it strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane in less than two days. National Hurricane Center (NHC) meteorologists warned that additional strengthening is expected.
Most spaghetti models, or computer models illustrating potential storm paths, show Kristy continuing westward with a slight northwestward turn, although a few models anticipate the storm to take a steeper turn or continue in a southwest direction. The official NHC path shows Kristy remaining far off land, but meteorologists warned of deadly indirect impacts in Baja California from the storm’s strength.
“Swells generated by Kristy will affect portions of the west coast of the Baja California peninsula late this week. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the most recent NHC forecast said. “Please consult products from your local weather office.”
Newsweek reached out to the NHC by email for comment. As of Wednesday afternoon, no rip current warnings were in place along the West Coast.
Rip currents can be caused by hurricanes or tropical storms that cause disturbances in the ocean, and they can impact a beach even if a storm is hundreds of miles away, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned.
“Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water that are prevalent along the East, Gulf, and West coasts of the U.S., as well as along the shores of the Great Lakes,” a NOAA website dedicated to the topic said. “Moving at speeds of up to eight feet per second, rip currents can move faster than an Olympic swimmer. Panicked swimmers often try to counter a rip current by swimming straight back to shore—putting themselves at risk of drowning because of fatigue.”
Kristy is the 11th named storm of the eastern Pacific hurricane season. The NHC track shows Kristy maintaining major hurricane strength through Friday night. Kristy will likely weaken to tropical storm strength by Sunday morning and become a post-tropical depression by next Monday.
Tropical storms and hurricanes that form in the Atlantic Ocean are more likely to strike the U.S., and as of Wednesday afternoon, the NHC didn’t expect any tropical storm development in the Atlantic over the next seven days.
However, AccuWeather meteorologists are eyeing an area for potential development in the western Caribbean. Should a storm form, it could occur between October 29 and November 2. Its track will likely remain away from the U.S., and meteorologists expect it to head either west or east, but it’s too soon to tell.
If that storm forms, it will be named Tropical Storm Patty, the next name on the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season list.