Cancun Today

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Hurricane Dean made landfall as a Category Five hurricane at 3:30 a.m. today at Majahual, 190 miles south of Cancun. Winds were estimated as high as 185 mph.

As of 7:42 a. m., basic services are functioning normally in Cancun. Some public transportation has been suspended, including ADO long-distance bus service. All traffic signal lights were removed prior to the storm. Civil defense authorities have asked the population to stay at home and avoid unnecessary movement. Weather remains windy with some rain, but clouds are now lifting somewhat.

Access to the Hotel Zone is restricted by a police checkpoint at the entrance. Elements of the Mexican army and the Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP) are patrolling Boulevard Kukulcán. According to our local newspaper, Novedades de Quintana Roo, high waves have flooded the beach at Playa Mirador as a result of the fierce winds. Hurricane Dean is approximately at the halfway mark in its progress across the state. All airports in Quintana Roo are closed.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Hurricane Dean hits Mexico coast

Andrea Montalvo, of the US-based Spanish-language Telemundo television network, said the storm was wreaking havoc in the Mexican city of Chetumal.

“Inside the hotel it is really bad, every 10 or 15 minutes you can hear windows shattering and people are coming out of their rooms in panic,” she said.

“Some people have been moved to schools on higher ground, but if this is how it is here in this hotel, which is pretty solid, I don’t want to think about how it is there.”

She said the shelters in Chetumal and surrounding areas did not seem well prepared and had holes in the walls and no food or water.

City officials said there were power outages as the wind knocked over trees and sent debris flying through the air.

Hurricane Dean Forecast Discussion from the National Hurricane Center

Dean made landfall on the East Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula near the cruise ship port of costa maya around 0830 UTC…and the eye is now just inland. Observations from an Air Force hurricane hunter plane indicate that the hurricane was intensifying right up to landfall. A peak flight-level wind of 165 kt was measured just north of the eye. Maximum surface winds from the SFMR were 124 kt…but it is highly likely that the maximum surface wind speed was not reported by the SFMR instrument. A GPS dropsonde in the northern eyewall measured a wind speed of 178 kt averaged over the lowest 150 meters of the sounding. Based on the dropsonde and the flight-level winds…the intensity is set at 145 kt. A dropsonde in the eye measured a central pressure of 906 mb just prior to landfall. Some historic notes are in order here. The 906 mb central pressure is the ninth lowest on record for an Atlantic Basin hurricane…and the third lowest at landfall behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in the Florida Keys and hurricane Gilbert of 1988 in Cancun Mexico. Dean is also the first category five hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic Basin since Andrew of 1992.

Dean will weaken as it traverses the Yucatan Peninsula and the amount of weakening will depend on how long the center remains over land. Our current thinking is that the cyclone will still be a borderline Cat 1/2 hurricane when it emerges over the Bay of Campeche…but there is considerable uncertainty in this forecast. Assuming that the inner core is not too disrupted by its interaction with land…Dean should regain major hurricane status before its final landfall in Mainland Mexico.

Initial motion is estimated to be 285/17. Deep layer high pressure near the northern Gulf Coast should steer the hurricane on a west-northwestward to westward heading for the next couple of days. The official track forecast is similar to the previous one.

The Hurricane Warning is extended westward along the Bay of Campeche coastline of Mexico.Forecast positions and Max winds

initial 21/0900z 18.7n 87.8w 145 kt
12hr VT 21/1800z 19.1n 90.4w 85 kt…inland
24hr VT 22/0600z 19.6n 93.9w 95 kt…over Bay of Campeche
36hr VT 22/1800z 20.1n 96.8w 105 kt…inland
48hr VT 23/0600z 20.5n 100.0w 25 kt…inland…dissipating
72hr VT 24/0600z…dissipated

$$
forecaster Pasch/Brown

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