Otis makes landfall as Category 5 hurricane in Mexico

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Hurricane Otis becomes strongest hurricane to hit Mexico

Hurricane Otis rapidly intensified into a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane Tuesday as it approached the southern coast of Mexico, where it made a historic landfall overnight near Acapulco.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Otis made landfall just 5 miles south of Acapulco around 1:25 a.m. CDT Wednesday as a Category 5 hurricane packing destructive winds of 165 mph. Otis was the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall on the Pacific side of Mexico. It was also the first time an Eastern Pacific hurricane made landfall at Category 5 intensity.

Catastrophic damage was likely where the hurricane’s core moved onshore, according to the NHC. Otis was forecast to bring a “potentially catastrophic” storm surge with “life-threatening” coastal flooding, huge waves, destructive winds and flooding rainfall to southern Mexico.

Damaging hurricane-force winds will spread inland over southern Mexico Wednesday morning, with extremely destructive winds near the core of Otis during the next few hours.

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Also from Hurricane HQ, Hurricane Tammy is expected to bring nasty weather to Bermuda this weekend. Tropical Depression 21 fell apart over Central America on Tuesday. The remnants of Hurricane Norma are dumping tremendous amounts of rain in Texas and Oklahoma, as well.

First big winter storm of season could dump foot of snow

Big-time snow is possible across the northern Rockies this week as the first major winter storm of the season moves through the region. Winter storm alerts have been issued from Washington state to North Dakota and south to Wyoming. As much as a foot of snow is possible in a swath from Montana to North Dakota. The higher peaks are expected to see more than a foot.

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Bone-chilling cold arrives for Halloween

The first big cold snap of the season is also expected to arrive soon. Arctic air is forecast to spill into the U.S. later this week. It starts in the northern Rockies before pushing as far south as northern Texas by the weekend. Chicago is expected to see temperatures drop by 20 degrees between Friday and Saturday.

The timeline for the cold blast.

(FOX Weather)

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Editor’s note: As noted earlier in this story, Otis is the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast. A push alert from the FOX Weather app abbreviated this context as the country’s first Category 5 landfall.