Overall Orange alert Tropical Cyclone for NORA-21
in Mexico

Event summary

Tropical Cyclone NORA-21 can have a medium humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed, exposed population and vulnerability.

GDACS ID TC 1000817
Name NORA-21
Glide number: TC-2021-000122-MEX
From - To 25 Aug - 30 Aug
Exposed countries Mexico
Exposed population 1.4 million in Category 1 or higher
Maximum wind speed 139 km/h Category 1
Maximum storm surge 0.7 m (29 Aug 07:00 UTC)
Vulnerability Medium (Mexico)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
Wind Storm surge Rainfall GDACS score
GDACS NOAA 46 km/h 0.7 m n.a. 0.5
Single TC: maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge, rainfall)
HWRF 137 km/h 0.7 m 1646 mm 0.5
GFS 140 km/h 0.4 m 538 mm 0.5
ECMWF 86 km/h 0.5 m 838 mm 0.5
Maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge and rainfall) using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Mexico - Tropical cyclone NORA (ECHO 27 Aug 2021)Fri, 27 Aug 2021 15:58

  • Tropical cyclone NORA, formed over the Pacific Ocean on 25 August, is moving northwest over the California Peninsula. On 27 August at 6.00 UTC, its centre was 440 km south-southwest of Acapulco City (Guerrero State, western Mexico), with maximum sustained winds of 80 km/h (tropical storm).
  • Nora will continue northwest, passing very close to the southwestern and western coast of Mexico on 27-28 August. After that, it could approach the southern portion of Baja California Sur on 29 August.
  • Heavy rains and strong winds are forecast over coastal sections of the Mexican States of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Tecpan de Galeana to Cabo Corrientes (Mexico).
Mexico - Tropical Cyclone NORA (ECHO 30 Aug 2021)Mon, 30 Aug 2021 16:08

  • After moving over the western coast of central Mexico, Tropical Cyclone NORA has weakened to a Tropical Depression and on 30 August at 3.00 UTC, its centre was located about 60 km north-west of Culiacan City (central Sinaloa State) 50 km south-west of Guamuchil State (north Sinaloa), with maximum sustained winds of 55 km/h. 
  • Heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge were reported across Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco States, triggering floods and landslides. According to the Government of Jalisco, one person died and another one is missing near Puerto Vallarta City, after the overflow of the Cuale River. In Cihuatlan City, up to 500 houses were damaged and several people were displaced.
  • NORA is forecast to move northwards over the coast of northern Sinaloa and southern Sonora and is expected to dissipate on late 30 August.
  • Heavy rain and high waves are forecast along the west coast of Mexico, from Nayarit to the southern Sonora States on 30-31 August. 
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (40), (2), DesInventar (1), WMO (1), INFORM (2),