Hurricane Paul (2006)

Hurricane Paul

Hurricane Paul at peak intensity on October 23
Meteorological history
Formed	October 21, 2006
Dissipated	October 26, 2006
Category 2 hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds	105 mph (165 km/h)
Lowest pressure	970 mbar (hPa); 28.64 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	4 direct
Damage	$3.2 million (2006 USD)
Areas affected	Oaxaca, Guerrero, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa
IBTrACS
Part of the 2006 Pacific hurricane season

Hurricane Paul was a Category 2 Pacific hurricane that struck Mexico as a tropical depression in October 2006. The seventeenth named storm and tenth hurricane of the annual hurricane season, Paul developed from an area of disturbed weather on October 21. The cyclone slowly intensified as it moved into an area of warm waters and progressively decreasing wind shear. Paul attained hurricane status on October 23, and later that day the storm reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (169 km/h), a strong Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A strong trough turned the hurricane to the north and northeast into an area of strong vertical shear, and Paul weakened to a tropical storm on October 24. It accelerated northeastward, and after passing a short distance south of Baja California Sur the low level circulation became decoupled from the rest of the convection. Paul weakened to a tropical depression on October 25 a short distance off the coast of Mexico, and after briefly turning away from the coast it made landfall on northwestern Sinaloa on October 26. The depression dissipated shortly thereafter.

Paul was the third hurricane to threaten western Mexico during the season, the others being hurricanes John and Lane. Rough surf killed two people along Baja California Sur, while flooding was reported in Sinaloa. Damage totaled more than $35 million (2006 MXN, $3.2 million 2006 USD) across Mexico.