Tropical storm Bonnie becomes third hurricane of season off Mexico coast

(Reuters) -Tropical storm Bonnie turned into a Category 1 hurricane off the southwest coast of Mexico on Sunday evening, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) and higher gusts, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Bonnie, the third hurricane of the 2022 eastern north Pacific season, made landfall as a tropical storm on the Caribbean coast near the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border on Friday evening, bringing heavy rains across the region, before crossing over to the Pacific on Saturday.

In El Salvador, authorities confirmed one death due torrential rains. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on Twitter that classes would be suspended across the country on Monday.

The hurricane may reach Category 2 classification on Monday night with winds of up to 110 miles per hour (177 km/h) as it travels parallel to the coast before moving away from Mexico on Wednesday, according to Mexico’s national meteorological service.

Ocean swells generated by Bonnie “are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” NHC said in an advisory.

The Mexican meteorological service warned that the hurricane could result in intense rains, mudslides, floods, strong wind gusts and ocean waves up to 16 feet (5 meters) along the country’s southern Pacific coast.

(Reporting by Jackie Botts in Oaxaca City and Noe Torres in Mexico City; Editing by Paul Simao and Bradley Perrett)