Hurricane Jova (2011)

Hurricane Jova

Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Jova near peak intensity October 10.
Formed	October 6, 2011
Dissipated	October 12, 2011
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 125 mph (205 km/h)
Lowest pressure	955 mbar (hPa); 28.2 inHg
Fatalities	9 total
Damage	$203.67 million (2011 USD)
Areas affected	Southwestern Mexico, Western Mexico
Part of the 2011 Pacific hurricane season

Hurricane Jova was a strong Pacific hurricane that made landfall over Jalisco, Mexico. The tenth tropical depression and named storm, ninth hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of the 2011 Pacific hurricane season, Jova developed from an area of showers and thunderstorms that became better organized in early October. Moving towards the west-northwest, the area became better organized, and late on October 5, the National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories on Tropical Depression Ten-E. Steadily organizing, the storm was upgraded to Tropical Storm Jova later the following day, and by October 8, the storm had been classified as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. The storm attained Category 2 hurricane status late on October 9, and after a round of rapid intensification early on October 10, Jova had become a major hurricane.

During the evening hours of October 3, an area of showers and thunderstorms had moved off the Colombian coastline. Moving slowly towards the west, the area of disturbed weather began gaining more convection, and late the following day, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began monitoring the disturbance/. Over the course of the next day, the area of low pressure became better defined, and the convection associated with the low became more consolidated. Thus, the National Hurricane Center upgraded their chances of the low becoming a tropical cyclone to 50%. Under favorable conditions, the area of disturbed weather continued to quickly become organized, and late on October 5, the NHC began issuing advisories on Tropical Depression Ten-E, located 625 mi (1005 km) south of Manzanillo, Mexico. Embedded within a favorable environment for further strengthening, the depression slowly organized, and was upgraded to a tropical storm at 2100 UTC on October 6, while moving towards the northwest in response to a weakening Subtropical Ridge.