Hurricane Agatha slammed into Puerto Angel, on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast Monday afternoon. The Category 2 storm is the first named storm of 2022 and the strongest ever to hit the country’s western coast in May since official record keeping began 73 years ago. Strengthened by unusually warm water, Agatha packed 105-mph winds, extremely dangerous storm surge, and threatened to dump heavy rainfall inland — which could set off “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.” The storm system could continue across the Yucatan Peninsula, the western end of Cuba, and as far as southern Florida. (Washington Post $, Yale Climate Connections, Axios, Yale Climate Connections, AP, Insider, Broward Sun-Sentinel, CNN, USA Today, AP; Potential path: Naples News; Climate Signals background: Hurricanes)
