For the most part we've been experiencing moderate winds. The seas generated by these have been fine enough (for the most part) for conventional anglers trolling or for fishing the shoreline but difficult for fly anglers to stand up and cast. We are experiencing occasional fog East of Isla Carmen and to the North over San Bruno. The past three days up until today were windy due to remnants from Hurricane Alex that moved Westward after landfall. Today the winds are down again and we expect calm, clear weather and a gradual increase of air temperatures and humidity.
Fog may be part of the equation even though we're into July now. Our fog makes its way here from the Pacific side of the peninsula. It spills over the pass at San Bruno or over the Sierra de la Gigante to the South of us at Puerto Escondido. When fog dominates it changes local conditions and wind is usually the result. When the fog burns off its affect dissapates and the wind slows or stops and the air temps increase.
June 30, 2010: Panga netting bigeye off the marina with the sun rising East of Carmen Island.
Current Sea Surface Temperatures (based on the Terrafin Sea Surface Satellite image of the Loreto Area taken at 03:38 June 05, 2010 with five stars):
Inshore 71 - 80 F (22 - 27 C) Offshore 77 - 85 (25 - 29 C)
The offshore breaks are East of Isla Montserrate to Punta Perico and also extending from Punta Tintorerra on Isla Carmen all the way North from 10-15 NM out from the shoreline.
NEW!Hurricane Jimena (29 August - 4 September, 2009): Hurricane Jimena traveled over the baja peninsula from Magdelena Bay to the Sea of Cortez destroying several cities in its path; San Carlos, Lopez Mateos, Santo Domingo valley, Villa Insurgentes, Ciudad Constitucion, San Ignacio, Santa Rosalia and Mulege were all affected by the high winds and flood waters of this powerful storm. Loreto was spared and experienced very little damage.
Hurricane Jimena from the Space Shuttle
archived:Hurricane Henriette (3 September, 2007): Hurricane Henriette's eye got within 60 miles to the south of Loreto on Wednesday September 3, 2007. No damages were reported.
archived:Hurricane John (28 August - 5 September, 2006): Hurricane John brushed by the West side of Loreto on Saturday September 2, 2006. The town of Loreto was spared from major damage and loss of life. Loreto has recovered from the damages of the hurricane and its actually difficult to tell that we had a storm of this size here.
Wikipedia link:Hurricane Marty (18 - 22 September, 2003): The next time a timeshare agent mis-informs you about Loreto not being at risk for major tropical cyclones, this one was the most destructive storm in recent memory for Loreto. Marty was borderline category 2 when it passed by Loreto on its way North right up the Sea of Cortez. The eye of the storm was within 30 miles of town. The winds were extremely strong and the rains created torrents of water throughout town. I was fool enough to go out in it right when it was approaching and after that experience (where I almost lost my life) I will NEVER go out in a storm again. I have photos in the archives taken the following day of the damage that was done around town and the marina and will repost these soon. I have never written about my experience in Hurricane Marty because just thinking of what almost happened during that storm scares the crap outta me!
Wikipedia link:Hurricane Liza (25 September - 1 October, 2003): This destructive and deadly storm formed in the Eastern Pacific ocean about 450 miles South of Acapulco. It intensified into a category 4 storm and slowly made its way North eventually making landfall near Guaymas, Sonora. Although Loreto didn't receive a direct hit we did experience major flooding from rains, in fact the estero in front of Hotel Oasis was formed by this storm. In La Paz it is reported that thousands died when a levy broke. Unofficial reports from witnesses say thousands of people were washed into the sea then eaten by sharks. This is the result of a category 4 coming into the Sea of Cortez and careless building in areas that are prone deluge rainfall.
Wikipedia link:The Hurricane of 1959 (mid September, 1959): After Hurricane Jimena (2009) spared us but devistated surrounding towns, the old timers started to discuss past storms that affected Loreto. Wikipedia does not have much information but I will investigate this more. From what I gather, Loreto was virtually wiped out from flooding and high winds. The Wiki link does not go into detail on this storm but likely this was not the famous "Mexico" storm that hit near Manzanillo as a category 5 in the same year. The image shows the path of the 1959 storms and the one that appears to have made landfall near Cabo San Lucas is probably the "hurricane of '59" that the old timers are referring to. From the map is appears to have stayed to the East of the Sierra de la Giganta mountains which is why the storm produced so much rain. The effect the "hurricane of '59" had on Loreto was likely very much like Hurricane John in 2006.
