Lead
Hurricane Genevieve briefly reached Category 5 intensity in the eastern Pacific early Monday, July 27, then eased back to a still-major Category 4 while staying far from land, the National Hurricane Center said.
In Discussion Number 12, issued at 2 a.m. MST, NHC upgraded Genevieve to a 140-kt (160 mph) Category 5 storm, calling it the first Category 5 hurricane in the East Pacific since Kristy in 2024. By the 2 p.m. MST Advisory Number 14, maximum sustained winds had fallen to about 150 mph (240 km/h), putting the system back in Category 4 range about 505 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, moving northwest near 13 mph.
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Hazards and track
NHC said no coastal watches or warnings were in effect. Swells from Genevieve were still affecting parts of Mexico’s southwestern coast and southern Baja California and were expected to spread farther north along the peninsula, with life-threatening surf and rip currents possible.
Associated Press reporting carried by ABC News likewise described a brief Category 5 peak, an offshore track roughly parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast, and the same surf hazard language from NHC. Yale Climate Connections put the early-Monday peak near 160 mph with a 925 mb central pressure before the slight retreat, and tied the rapid intensification to warm East Pacific waters and a moist environment linked to a developing El Niño pattern.
What forecasters expect next
NHC’s afternoon discussion held Genevieve near 130 kt and forecast steady weakening later in the week as the hurricane moves over cooler waters and into drier mid-level air, with a post-tropical transition possible by about five days. AccuWeather’s tracker matched the afternoon Category 4 reading near 150 mph at the same coordinates NHC published.
The Cat 5 mark was real but short-lived. The operational story by late Monday afternoon was a powerful offshore major hurricane already on a weakening path, not a landfall threat.