Tropical Storm Rosa to cross the Baja California Peninsula

Tropical Storm Rosa is forecast to dump heavy rains on parts of coastal Mexico and, later, the Southwest United States. Image courtesy NOAA

By Ed Adamczyk and Daniel Uria, UPI

Tropical Storm Rosa is forecast to cross the Baja California Peninsula on Monday night, bringing flooding rains to Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.

Rosa was located about 70 miles west-northwest of Punta Eugenia, Mexico, and about 215 miles south-southwest of San Felipe, Mexico, and was moving north-northeast at 10 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 2 p.m. PDT update.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, with tropical storm-force winds extending about 150 miles from its center.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula from Punta Abreojos to Cabo San Quintin and a tropical storm watch was in effect for the east coast of the Baja California Peninsula from Bahia de los Angeles to San Felipe.

Heavy rain is expected Monday and Tuesday across Arizona, Southern California, southern and eastern Nevada, and Utah. Parts of Colorado and northwestern New Mexico could also be affected. Floodwaters closed sections of Highway 95 in San Bernardino County, Calif., on Sunday

The storm moved northward over the weekend and its center is projected to reach Baja California Monday. It will then track across the peninsula and drench the deserts of the Southwest, the National Hurricane Center said.

Baja California and Sonora, Mexico, should expect 3 inches to 6 inches of rain, with 10 inches in some places, the NHC warned. Isolated areas in Arizona could receive 6 inches before the storm disperses.

More than 40 percent of Arizona is in extreme drought conditions.

Another storm, Tropical Storm Sergio, is about 695 miles southwest of the Manzanillo, Mexico 805 miles south of the southern tip of Baja California. It is slowly moving west across the Pacific Ocean. Forecasters said winds extend 125 miles from its center. It's expected to become a hurricane later Monday and a major hurricane by early Wednesday.