Tropical Storm Boris made landfall along the coast of Guerrero in the early hours of Tuesday, June 9, drenching Acapulco and surrounding communities with heavy rain, gusty winds and the very real threat of life-threatening mudslides — a grim routine for a stretch of coastline that has absorbed blow after blow in recent years.
Boris had been spinning near the Mexican coast for several days before finally moving ashore Tuesday morning. Along the central coast of Guerrero, including in Acapulco, forecasters had warned of 4 to 8 inches of rainfall, with a max of 15 inches in the hardest-hit areas. The U.S. National Hurricane Center cautioned that the rainfall could produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain.
Mexico's National Meteorological Service issued an alert for torrential rains, and President Claudia Sheinbaum activated civil protection plans to be carried out by the Navy and the Defense Ministry. A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for the coastal strip between Laguna de Chacahua in Oaxaca and Tecpan de Galeana in Guerrero — the zone forecasters identified as most vulnerable.
The state of Guerrero, which typically sees 300 to 400 millimeters of rain throughout the entire month of June, was projected to surpass that total in just two days of extraordinary rainfall. Residents from Michoacán to Nayarit were urged to stay alert through official channels.
By Tuesday morning, Boris was weakening fast. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) — the federal agency that monitors and forecasts tropical storms across the Atlantic and Pacific — said Boris could still produce flash flooding and an additional 1 to 4 inches of rain across Guerrero and Oaxaca before dissipating later in the day. The wind story was always secondary — historically, tropical systems in this part of Mexico cause far more damage from water than from wind, and Boris fit that pattern.
Cristina Is Already Forming
The threat doesn't end with Boris. Tropical Storms Boris and Cristina both formed off southern Mexico's Pacific coast on Monday, becoming the second and third named storms of the 2026 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storm Cristina has been moving near the Nicaragua coast and will bring impacts across Central America and Mexico through the end of the week.
According to AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva, flash flooding and mudslides from locally excessive rainfall are the main threats from both Boris and Cristina. There is also a chance that Cristina or some of its energy could reach the southwest Gulf later this week, where it could regenerate or help initiate a new center — and its moisture may trigger flooding downpours across the southern United States later this week into the weekend.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has projected a 70% chance of above-normal activity for the Pacific this hurricane season, driven largely by El Niño conditions expected to intensify in the coming months. For the full eastern Pacific season, NOAA is forecasting 15 to 22 named storms, including up to nine major hurricanes.
A Coast That Remembers
For the communities of Guerrero and Oaxaca, this is not unfamiliar pain. In October 2023, Category 5 Hurricane Otis made landfall near Acapulco as the strongest landfalling hurricane on record in the eastern Pacific basin — causing at least 52 fatalities and an estimated $12 to $16 billion in damage, making it the costliest tropical cyclone in Mexico's recorded history.
Otis knocked out power to over half a million homes and businesses across Guerrero, impacted more than 220,000 homes and damaged 80% of the area's hotels. The storm had strengthened so rapidly — from a tropical storm to a catastrophic Category 5 in just 12 hours — that people had almost no time to prepare.
Boris carries nowhere near that destructive power. But on a coast where Otis is still a fresh wound, even a tropical storm landing in June — the very start of hurricane season — is a reminder of how exposed this region remains.
Boris is the second named storm of the Pacific hurricane season, which started May 15. The season's first storm, Tropical Storm Amanda, formed June 3 and dissipated without threatening land. The fact that Boris and Cristina have both arrived in the first week of June signals what forecasters already expect: a busy and dangerous summer ahead for Mexico's Pacific coast.
For Acapulco and the surrounding communities of Guerrero and Oaxaca, the rains will pass. But the work of protecting lives and rebuilding resilience in this storm-battered corridor is far from over.
